


The Littlest Timelord: Cracks in Time

by BBCGirl657



Series: The Littlest Timelord [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Season/Series 05, Time Tots | Babies (Doctor Who), Timelord Child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 67,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23551579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BBCGirl657/pseuds/BBCGirl657
Summary: A little girl escapes the Time War when the Timelords return in “End of Time Part 2″. The newly regenerated Doctor must now raise the little girl while trying to find out why cracks in time keep following them around.
Relationships: Amy Pond/Rory Williams, Eleventh Doctor/River Song
Series: The Littlest Timelord [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695061
Comments: 25
Kudos: 74





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the first chapter of "The Littlest Timelord: Cracks in Time". Hope you enjoy reading!

The Doctor came crashing through the ceiling of the Naismith Mansion and landed on all the broken glass. Through blurry vision, he picked up the gun lying next to him and pointed it at Rassilon, but it fell from his hand as he collapsed back down to the floor. The Doctor struggled to get up as Rassilon came towards him.

“My Lord Doctor, Lord Master. We are gathered for the end”, Rassilon said.

The Doctor lay on the floor, panting in pain. He struggled to his hands and knees as he begged. “Listen to me. You can’t!”

“It is a fitting paradox that our salvation comes at the hands of our most infamous child”.

“Oh, he’s not saving you. Don’t you realize what he’s doing?”

The Master ignored the Doctor. “Look around you. I’ve transplanted myself into every single human being. But who wants a mongrel little species like them, because now I can transplant myself into every single Time Lord. Oh, yes, Mister President, sir, standing there all noble and resplendent and decrepit. Think how much better you’re going to look as me”.

Rassilon held up his metal gauntlet and every human was restored to their normal selves.

“No, no, don’t. No, no, stop it! No, no, no, don’t!” the Master yelled.

“On your knees, mankind”, Rassilon demanded.

Every human in the room got down on their knees.

“No, that’s fine, that’s good, because you said salvation. I still saved you. Don’t forget that”, the Master told him.

“The approach begins”, Rassilon said looking up to the sky.

“Approach of what?”

“Something is returning. Don’t you ever listen? That was the prophecy. Not someone, something”, the Doctor snapped.

“What is it?” the Master asked.

“They’re not just bringing back the species. It’s Gallifrey. Right here, right now”.

The humans in the room fled in fear as Gallifrey got closer to the earth.

“But, I did this. I get the credit. I’m on your side”, the Master said.

Wilf came running into the room. “Come on, get out of the way. Get out of the way! Doctor?”

“Help me, please. Somebody, please!” a technician begged. He was trapped in a glass booth.

“All right! I’ve got you, mate. I’ve got you”, Wilf said going into the open booth.

“Wilf, don’t. Don’t!” the Doctor begged as Wilf unlocked the other booth.

“I’ve got you. Come on. Go on”, Wilf told him.

The technician fled the room.

“But this is fantastic, isn’t it? The Time Lords restored”, the Master said, rising to his feet.

“You weren’t there in the final days of the War. You never saw what was born. But if the Timelock’s broken, then everything’s coming through. Not just the Daleks, but the Skaro Degradations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-have-been King with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-weres. The War turned into hell. And that’s what you’ve opened, right above the Earth. Hell is descending!” the Doctor listed off.

“My kind of world”.

“Just listen! Because even the Time Lords can’t survive that”.

“We will initiate the Final Sanction. The end of time will come at my hand. The rupture will continue until it rips the Time Vortex apart”, Rassilon told them.

“That’s suicide”, the Master argued.

“We will ascend to become creatures of consciousness alone. Free of these bodies, free of time, and cause and effect, while creation itself ceases to be”.

“You see now? That’s what they were planning in the final days of the War. I had to stop them”, the Doctor told the Master.

“Then, take me with you, Lord President. Let me ascend into glory”.

“You are diseased, albeit a disease of our own making. No more”.

The Doctor was back on his feet and aiming the revolver at Rassilon.

“Choose your enemy well. We are many. The Master is but one”, he said.

“But he’s the President. Kill him, and Gallifrey could be yours”, the Master told him.

The Doctor turned and aimed it at the Master.

“He’s to blame, not me. Oh, the link is inside my head. Kill me, the link gets broken, they go back. You never would, you coward. Go on then. Do it”.

As he was about to turn the gun back on Rassilon, a small brunette girl came running towards the Doctor.

“Someone grab her!” Rassilon demanded.

The Doctor trained the gun on him again as her small arms wrapped around his leg. She shook violently against him and he wondered how she had gotten there in the first place.

“Exactly. It’s not just me, it’s him. He’s the link. Kill him!” the Master yelled.

“The final act of your life is murder. But which one of us?” Rassilon asked.

The woman to the right of the Doctor lowered her hands from her face to look at the Doctor and the little girl. The Doctor spun around to face the Master again. “Get out of the way”.

The Master moved and the Doctor shot the device holding the white point star.

“The link is broken. Back into the Time War, Rassilon. Back into hell”, the Doctor spat.

“You’ll die with me, Doctor”, Rassilon said lifting his gauntlet.

The Doctor placed his hand on the girl’s head. “I know”, the Doctor said.

Rassilon aimed his gauntlet at the Doctor and the girl as the woman covered her faced again.

“Get out of the way”, the Master told him.

The Doctor picked up the little girl and moved off to the side as the Master attacked Rassilon with his built up energy. “You did this to me! All of my life! You made me! One! Two! Three! Four!”

Rassilon was forced to his knees as the Timelords disappeared in a bright white light.

The Doctor shielded the little girl’s body with his own as they were sucked back into the Time War. “I’m alive. I've…I’m still alive. We’re okay”. He raised up on his hands as the little girl sat next to him looking at him with her big blue eyes.

They heard a series of four knocks.

The Doctor looked over and saw Wilf in the glass booth.

“They gone, then? Yeah, good-o. If you could let me out?” he asked.

The Doctor sighed. “Yeah”.

“Only, this thing seems to be making a bit of a noise”.

The Doctor got to his feet and walked over to him. “The Master left the Nuclear Bolt running. It’s gone into overload”.

“And that’s bad, is it?”

“No, because all the excess radiation gets vented inside there”. The Doctor gestured to the other booth with his head. “Vinvocci glass contains it. All five hundred thousand rads, about to flood that thing”.

“Oh. Well, you’d better let me out, then”.

“Except it’s gone critical. Touch one control and it floods”. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. “Even this would set it off”.

“I’m sorry. Look, just leave me”.

“Okay, right then, I will. Because you had to go in there, didn’t you? You had to go and get stuck, oh yes. Because that’s who you are, Wilfred. You were always this. Waiting for me all this time!”

The little girl could see that the man was getting increasingly upset. She got up and walked over to him, taking his hand in her tiny one.

He looked down at her and chuckled bitterly. He was dying and she’d just begun her life.

She couldn’t have been more than 4.

“No really, just leave me. I’m an old man, Doctor. I’ve had my time”, Wilf told him.

The Doctor pulled his hand out of hers “Well, exactly. Look at you. Not remotely important. But me? I could do so much more. So much more! But this is what I get. My reward. And it’s not fair!” The Doctor was practically crying at this point and the little girl didn’t like it one bit.

She wrapped her arms around his legs as she tried to comfort him the best she could.

The Doctor’s hearts melted. She had no idea what was going on, but was more worried about how he was doing. He sighed and picked her up. Her tiny arms wrapped around his neck and he gently hugged her before putting her down. “I’ve lived too long”, he said as he walked towards the glass booths.

The little girl followed him.

The Doctor turned around and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You have to stay here”.

She shook her head, but did as he told her.

“No. No, no, please, please don’t. No, don’t! Please don’t! Please!” Wilf begged.

“Wilfred, it’s my honor. Better be quick. Three, two, one”. He quickly ran into the booth and unlocked Wilf’s door.

Wilf ran out and a red light flooded the Doctor’s booth. He cried out in pain.

The little girl ran to the booth and started banging on the glass door with her little hands.

The Doctor curled up into a ball as the power shut down. When he looked up, he saw the little girl’s big blue eyes staring at him.

They were misty like she was about to start crying. She’d just met him though.

After a few minutes, the Doctor managed to get up.

“Hello”, Wilf said.

“Hi”, the Doctor replied.

“Still with us?”

“The system’s dead. I absorbed it all. Whole thing’s kaput”. He pushed open the door to the booth. “Oh. Now it opens, yeah”. He stepped out and immediately picked up the little girl.

“She’s going to be rather attached to you”, Wilf told him.

“Yeah”, the Doctor said stroking her hair, “Just us two now”.

“Well, there we are, then. Safe and sound. Mind you, you’re in hell of a state. You’ve got some battle scars there”.

The Doctor rubbed his face and the cuts vanished.

“But they've…Your face…How did you do that? Wilf asked.

“It’s started”, the Doctor told him.

Wilf hugged the Doctor, who just stood there. After dropping Wilf off at home, the Doctor took the little girl deeper into the TARDIS to find her a room.

He came across a door painted with stars and galaxies. When he opened it, it was a nursery. “Well, I guess this will do for now”, he told her. He laid her down in the bed the TARDIS provided and covered her up with a sheet. “Goodnight, little one”, he said, sonicing a night light. He left her in her room as he set off for his reward.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Doctor stumbled into the TARDIS and saw the little girl standing next to the console. “You should be sleeping”, he told her.

Her eyes went wide as she looked down at his hand.

It was glowing with golden energy.

He walked over to the lever and set the TARDIS in motion. “Whatever happens, it’s me and you”. He stepped away from her and she watched as tears filled his eyes. “I don’t want to go”, he said and exploded with golden energy.

The little girl was terrified. She didn’t understand what was going on. The energy started various fires in the TARDIS and she grabbed onto a Y-beam.

When the golden energy faded, a new man stood there in the other man’s clothes.

“Legs. I’ve still got legs!” he rejoiced. He kissed his kneecaps before moving on. “Good. Arms. Hands. Ooo, fingers. Lots of fingers. Ears, yes. Eyes, two. Nose, I’ve had worse. Chin, blimey. Hair…” He felt his now longer hair. “I’m a girl! No. No. I’m not a girl”. “And still not ginger!” he said, seeing his hair was still brown, “And something else. Something important”. He looked over and saw the small girl. “Girl. But there’s something else…I’m, I’m, I'm…”

There was a loud bang and it hit him.

“Ha! Crashing!” he yelled happily. He grabbed onto the console. “Ha, ha! Whoo hoo hoo! Ah! Geronimo!”


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor and the little girl were falling out of the sky.

The TARDIS was going haywire and the little girl was trying her hardest to hang onto the Y-beam as the TARDIS exploded around her.

The Doctor was currently hanging outside with his sonic screwdriver in his hand as he tried to pull himself back in. He pointed his sonic at the controls just as they were about to hit Big Ben. The Doctor climbed back inside and shut the door behind him. He sat there for a few seconds until the TARIDS lurched again. The Doctor went sliding down the corridors of the TARDIS.

The TARDIS crashed violently and the little girl lost her grip and went sliding after him.

She screamed as she was plunged into cold water. Two hands grabbed her and pulled her up to the surface.

“Are you okay?” the Doctor asked her.

She nodded as they climbed out of the swimming pool. The little girl looked around and realized they were in a library.

There was a swimming pool in a library.

The Doctor started rummaging around looking for something. “Ah ha!” he said, coming back with a grappling hook. He swung it and it caught on something outside the TARDIS. “Can you climb?” he asked the little girl.

She looked up with wide eyes.

“Okay then”. He knelt down and said, “Hop on up”.

She wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Now hold on tight”, he told her as he started to climb.

When he reached the doorway of the TARDIS, the little girl carefully climbed out and sat on the edge. Something bright was pointed at her face.

A redheaded girl stood there. Amelia Pond.

The Doctor popped up next to the little Timelord. “Could I have an apple? All I can think about”, the Doctor told little Amelia, “Apples. I love apples. Maybe I’m having a craving? That’s new. Never had cravings before”. He climbed out and sat on the edge of the TARDIS next to the little girl.

“Are you okay?” Amelia asked.

“Just had a fall. All the way down there, right to the library”. The Doctor rolled up his sleeves. “Hell of a climb back up”.

“You’re both soaking wet”.

“We were in the swimming pool”.

“You said you were in the library”.

“So was the swimming pool”.

“Are you a policeman?”

“Why? Did you call a policeman?”

“Did you come about the crack in my wall?”

“What crack? Argh!” The Doctor fell to the ground.

Amelia stepped closer to him and shined the flashlight in his face. “Are you all right, mister?”

“No, I’m fine. It’s okay. This is all perfectly norm…” He was cut off by a breath of golden energy coming from his mouth.

“Who are you?” she asked him.

“I don’t know yet. I’m still cooking”. he said looking down at his hands, “Does it scare you?”

“No, it just looks a bit weird”.

“No, no, no. The crack in your wall. Does it scare you?”

“Yes”.

The Doctor jumped to his feet and picked up the little Timelord and set her on the ground. She immediately grabbed onto his hand.

“Well then, no time to lose. I’m the Doctor. Do everything I tell you, don’t ask stupid questions, and don’t wander off”, he told Amelia.

Amelia gestured to the little girl. “Who is she?”

The Doctor looked down at the small Timelord clinging to his hand. She hadn’t spoken to him yet, so he quickly thought up a name. A normal human name. “Elise”, he said, “She’s my…”

“Daughter?”

“Uh yeah”. He turned around and walked straight into a tree.

The two girls looked down at him.

“Are you all right?” Amelia asked him.

“Early days. Steering’s a bit off”.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They went into the kitchen.

Amelia walked up and handed the Doctor an apple. She offered one to Elise who shook her head. “If you’re a doctor, why does your box say Police?”

The Doctor bit into the apple and then spit it back out. “That’s disgusting. What is that?”

“An apple”.

“Apple’s rubbish. I hate apples”.

“You said you loved them”.

“No, no, no. I like yogurt. Yogurt’s my favorite. Give me yogurt”.

Amelia went and got him a yogurt cup from the fridge and handed it to him.

He poured it into his mouth and then spit it out like he did with the apple. “I hate yogurt. It’s just stuff with bits in”.

“You said it was your favorite”.

The Doctor wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “New mouth. New rules. It’s like eating after cleaning your teeth. Everything tastes wrong. Argh!” The Doctor twitched violently.

“What is it? What’s wrong with you?”

“Wrong with me? It’s not my fault. Why can’t you give me any decent food? You’re Scottish. Fry something”.

Amelia got a frying pan out and started to make bacon as the Doctor dried his and Elise’s hair with a towel he found. Amelia placed a plate of bacon in front of the Doctor.

“Ah, bacon!” Again, he took a bite out of it and spit it out again.

Elise was beginning to wonder what was wrong with him. What happened to the man who saved her? He had been so sad and this one was so happy and hyperactive.

“Bacon. That’s bacon. Are you trying to poison me?” the Doctor asked.

Amelia heated up a can of beans.

“Ah, you see? Beans”.

The Doctor took one bite and spit them out in the sink. “Beans are evil. Bad, bad bean”.

Next, Amelia spread some butter on toast.

“Bread and butter. Now you’re talking”.

The two girls watched as he got up and threw the plate out the front door. “And stay out!”

Elise watched as the Doctor came back into the kitchen and started pacing. She was getting rather hungry now, but she didn’t know what she wanted. She’d never been to this planet before, so she didn’t know what she liked here.

“We’ve got some carrots”, Amelia told the Doctor.

“Carrots? Are you insane? No. Wait. Hang on. I know what I need”. He walked over to the fridge and opened the freezer. “I need, I need, I need fish fingers and custard”. A few minutes later, the Doctor was dipping his fish fingers into a bowl of custard.

Amelia made Elise some as well, except Elise was eating her fish fingers and custard separately.

“Dip it in the custard”, the Doctor told her.

Elise shook her head.

“It’s really good. Just try it”.

Elise shook her head again.

“Okay then. You’re a stubborn one, aren’t you?” She reminded him of Donna. He could only imagine what would come out of her mouth when she finally talked to him. The Doctor finished his custard and fish fingers and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Funny”, Amelia told him.

“Am I? Good. Funny’s good. What’s your name?”

“Amelia Pond”.

“Oh, that’s a brilliant name. Amelia Pond. Like a name in a fairy tale. Are we in Scotland, Amelia?”

Amelia sighed. “No. We had to move to England. It’s rubbish”.

“So what about your mum and dad, then? Are they upstairs? Thought we’d have woken them by now”.

“I don’t have a mum and dad. Just an aunt”.

Elise felt sorry for Amelia because she knew how she felt. Elise was technically an orphan, but the Doctor (instead of leaving her on her own) had taken her in and was treating her as his own. She would be forever grateful to him for that.

“I don’t even have an aunt”, the Doctor told her.

“You’re lucky”.

“I know. So, your aunt, where is she?”

“She’s out”.

“And she left you all alone?”

The Doctor would have never left a child on their own. It was part of the reason why he had taken Elise in. Because without him, who knows what would have happened to her.

“I’m not scared”.

“Course, you’re not. You’re not scared of anything. Box falls out of the sky, man and girl fall out of a box, man and girl eat fish custard, and look at you, just sitting there. So you know what I think?”

“What?”

“Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall”.


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor and Elise followed little Amelia up to her bedroom. In her wall was a four foot long crack shaped a bit like a “W”.

The Doctor ran his fingers along the crack as he inspected it. “You’ve had some cowboys in here. Not actual cowboys, though that can happen”, he told Amelia.

“I used to hate apples, so my mum put faces on them”, Amelia said, looking down at the apple in her hand.

It had a smiley face cut into it. Elise thought it looked rather weird. Like a small head.

Amelia handed the apple to the Doctor.

“She sounds good, your mum. I’ll keep it for later”. The Doctor put the apple in his pocket. “This wall is solid and the crack doesn’t go all the way through it. So here’s a thing. Where’s the draft coming from?” He pulled out his screwdriver and scanned it. “Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey”, he said, checking the results, “You know what the crack is?”

“What?” Amelia asked.

“It’s a crack. But I’ll tell you something funny. If you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, because the crack isn’t in the wall”.

“Where is it then?”

“Everywhere. In everything. It’s a split in the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together right here in the wall of your bedroom. Sometimes, can you hear…?”

“A voice. Yes”.

Growling came from the other side of the wall.

The Doctor grabbed a glass of water off Amelia’s nightstand. He chucked the water out before using it to listen to the voice coming from the crack.

Amelia turned to Elise. “Is he always like this?” she asked.

Elise just shrugged.

“Prisoner Zero?” the Doctor asked.

“Prisoner Zero has escaped. That’s what I heard. What does it mean?” Amelia asked.

“Prisoner Zero has escaped”.

“It means that on the other side of this wall, there’s a prison and they’ve lost a prisoner. And you know what that means?” the Doctor asked.

“What?” Amelia answered.

“You need a better wall”. The Doctor moved Amelia’s desk away from the wall. “The only way to close the breach is to open it all the way. The forces will invert and it’ll snap itself shut. Or…”

“What?”

“You know when grown-ups tell you everything’s going to be fine and you think they’re probably lying to make you feel better?”

“Yes”.

“Everything’s going to be fine”. The Doctor stuck out his hand and Amelia grabbed it.

Elise held Amelia’s other hand as they stared down the wall.

The Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver at the crack.

It widened, filling the bedroom with a bright light.

“Prisoner Zero has escaped. Prisoner Zero has escaped”.

“Hello? Hello?” the Doctor asked.

A gigantic blue eye came out the crack.

“What’s that?” Amelia asked.

A bolt of light shot out of the crack and hit the Doctor, who doubled over as the crack closed.

“There, you see? Told you it would close. Good as new”, the Doctor said.

“What’s that thing? Was that Prisoner Zero?” Amelia asked.

“No. I think that was Prisoner Zero’s guard. Whatever it was, it sent me a message”. The Doctor pulled out a bill-fold. “Psychic paper. Takes a lovely little message. “Prisoner Zero has escaped”. But why tell us? Unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Unless Prisoner Zero escaped through here. But he couldn’t have. We’d know”. The Doctor ran out into the hallway. “It’s difficult. Brand new me. Nothing works yet. But there’s something I’m missing. In the corner of my eye”, he said, looking around the hallway.

Suddenly, there was a strange bell tolling.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” the Doctor yelled, running down the stairs.

The two girls followed him out into the garden.

“I’ve got to get back in there. The engines are phasing. It’s going to burn!” the Doctor said.

“But it’s just a box. How can a box have engines?” Amelia asked.

“It’s not a box. It’s a time machine”.

“What, a real one? You’ve got a real time machine?”

“Not for much longer if I can’t get her stabilized. Five minute hop into the future should do it”.

“Can I come?”

“Not safe in here. Not yet. Five minutes”.

The Doctor picked up Elise and had her wrap her arms around his neck again before he jumped up on the doorway. “Give me five minutes, I’ll be right back”.

“People always say that”, Amelia told him.

“Am I people? Do I even look like people? Trust me. I’m the Doctor”. He jumped back down into the TARDIS.

Elise closed her eyes and clung his neck, nearly choking him.

“Geronimo!” he yelled as they hit the water of the swimming pool again.

The Doctor pulled Elise out of the swimming pool again. Somehow, the Doctor righted the TARDIS and he grabbed Elise’s hand. As the Doctor started to run, Elise stood still. “Elise, we do not have time for this!” he said.

Her blue eyes went wide.

The Doctor sighed and knelt down in front of her. “I know you don’t understand what’s going on, but I promise when this is all over I will explain it to you, okay?”

Elise nodded.

He smiled and kissed her head before pulling out of the smoking TARDIS. He pulled her towards the house.

“Amelia! Amelia, I worked out what it was. I know what I was missing! You’ve got to get out of there!” The Doctor struggled to sonic the lock on the door. “Amelia? Amelia, are you all right? Are you there?” he asked, running up the stairs, “Prisoner Zero’s here. Prisoner Zero is here! Prisoner Zero is here! Do you understand me? Prisoner Zero is…”

Elise watched as a red-haired woman hit the Doctor in the head with a cricket bat.

He dropped to the floor, loudly.

Elise dropped on her knees next to him, shaking him while tiny whimpers left her mouth. She looked up at the redhead and glared at her.

Amy grabbed the small girl and placed her on the stairs, away from the Doctor. “Now you stay right there, young lady”.

Elise pouted and crossed her arms over her chest, but did as she was told.

When the Doctor came to, he found a young woman dressed in a police uniform in front of him.

“White male, mid-twenties, breaking and entering. We’ve also got a potential kidnapping. Send me some back-up. I’ve got him restrained”, she said, “Oi! You, sit still”.

The Doctor cleared his throat. “Cricket bat. I’m getting cricket bat”.

“You were breaking and entering”.

The Doctor tried to get up, but found he was handcuffed to the radiator. “Well, that’s much better. Brand new me. Whack on the head, just what I needed”.

“Do you want to shut up now? I’ve got back up on the way”.

“Hang on, no, wait. You’re a policewoman”.

“And you’re breaking and entering. You see how this works?”

“But what are you doing here? Where’s Amelia? And where’s Elise?”

As the Doctor asked that question, Elise came running towards him and dropped into his lap. He smiled at her. “Hello there”.

Elise gave him a small smile back.

“Amelia Pond?” the policewoman asked.

“Yeah, Amelia. Little Scottish girl. Where is she? I promised her five minutes but the engines were phasing. I suppose I must have gone a bit far. Has something happened to her?”

“Amelia Pond hasn’t lived here in a long time”.

“How long?”

“Six months”.

“No. No. No. No, I can’t be six months late. I said five minutes. I promised”.

The policewoman walked away from him and Elise.

“What happened to her? What happened to Amelia Pond?”

“Sarge, it’s me again. Hurry it up. This guy knows something about Amelia Pond”.

“Are you alright? She didn’t hit you or anything did she?” the Doctor asked Elise.

She shook her head.

“Good”. The Doctor ruffled her hair and placed a kiss on the crown of her head.

The policewoman came back over to them.

“I need to speak to whoever lives in this house right now”, the Doctor told her.

“I live here”.

“But you’re the police”.

“Yes, and this is where I live. Have you got a problem with that?”

“How many rooms?”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“On this floor. How many rooms on this floor? Count them for me now”.

“Why?”

“Because it will change your life”.

“Five. One, two, three, four, five”.

“Six”.

The policewoman scoffed. “Six?”

“Look”.

“Look where?”

“Exactly where you don’t want to look. Where you never want to look. The corner of your eye. Look behind you”.

The policewoman turned around. “That’s, that is not possible. How’s that possible?”

“There’s a perception filter all-round the door. Sensed it the last time I was here. Should’ve seen it”.

“But that’s a whole room. That’s a whole room I’ve never even noticed”.

“The filter stops you noticing. Something came a while ago to hide. It’s still hiding, and you need to uncuff me now”.

The policewoman started to walk towards the door. “I don’t have the key. I lost it”.

“How can you have lost it? Stay away from that door! Do not touch that door!”

The policewoman put her hand on the doorknob and opened the door.

“Listen to me, do not open that. Why does no-one ever listen to me? Do I just have a face that nobody listens to…?”

The policewoman was inside the room now.

“Again”. The Doctor started searching his pockets for his screwdriver. “My screwdriver, where is it? Elise, have you seen it?”

Elise shook her head.

“Silver thing, blue at the end. Where did it go?”

“There’s nothing here!” the policewoman called.

“Whatever’s there stopped you seeing the room. What makes you think you could see it? Now please, just get out”.

“Silver, blue at the end?”

“My screwdriver, yeah”.

“It’s here”.

“Must have rolled under the door”.

“Yeah. Must have. And then it must have jumped up on the table”.

“Get out of there. Get out of there! Get out! Get out of there!”

For some reason, the policewoman hadn’t come out yet.

“What is it? What are you doing?” the Doctor asked her.

“There’s nothing here, but…”

“Corner of your eye”.

“What is it?”

“Don’t try to see it. If it knows you’ve seen it, it will kill you. Don’t look at it. Do not look”.

The policewoman screamed.

“Get out!” the Doctor yelled.

The policewoman came running out of the room and towards the Doctor and Elise.

“Give me that”, the Doctor said, grabbing the sonic screwdriver from her. He locked the door and then worked on trying to free himself. “Come on. What’s the bad alien done to you?”

“Will that door hold it?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, of course. It’s an inter-dimensional multiform from outer space. They’re all terrified of wood”.

A bright light emanated from under the door.

“What’s that? What’s it doing?” the policewoman asked.

“I don’t know. Getting dressed? Run. Just go. Your back up’s coming. We’ll be fine”.

“There is no back up”.

“I heard you on the radio. You called for back-up”.

“I was pretending. It’s a pretend radio”.

“You’re a policewoman”.

“I’m a kissogram!” She pulled off her hat and her long red hair came tumbling down.

The door fell to the floor and a workman stood there with his dog.

“But it’s just…”

“No, it isn’t. Look at the faces”, the Doctor told her.

The man started barking instead of the dog.

“What? I’m sorry, but what?” the redhead asked.

“It’s all one creature. One creature disguised as two. Clever old multi-form. A bit of a rush job, though. Got the voice a bit muddled, did you? Mind you, where did you get the pattern from? You’d need a psychic link, a live feed. How did you fix that?”

The man opened his mouth, revealing needle like teeth.

Elise screamed and burrowed into the Doctor’s side.

“Stay, boy! Her and me, we’re safe. Want to know why? She sent for back up”, the Doctor said.

“I didn’t send for back-up!” the redhead insisted.

“I know. That was a clever lie to save our lives. Okay, yeah, no back up. And that’s why we’re safe. Alone, we’re not a threat to you. If we had back up, you’d have to kill us”.

“Attention, Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded. Attention Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded”.

Well, that didn’t sound good.


	4. Chapter 4

“What’s that?” the red haired woman asked the Doctor.

“Well, that would be back up. Okay, one more time. We do have back up and that’s definitely why we’re safe”.

“Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated”.

“Well, safe apart from, you know, incineration”, the Doctor added.

Prisoner Zero left the house as the Doctor continued to try and free himself.

“Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated”.

The Doctor started banging his screwdriver on the floor. “Come on, work, work, work, come on. This would be so much easier if you had one”, he told Elise, “Remind me to make you one. Would you like one?”

Elise just shrugged. She didn’t even know what the device was or what it was supposed to do.

“Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated”.

The Doctor finally unlocked the handcuffs. “Run! Run!” He grabbed the redhead’s hand and Elise’s and pulled them over to the stairs.

“Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated”.

They ran out into the garden, towards the TARDIS.

“Kissogram?” the Doctor asked the redhead.

“Yes, a kissogram. Work through it”.

“Why’d you pretend to be a policewoman?”

“You broke into my house. It was this or a French maid. What’s going on? Tell me. Tell me!”

“An alien convict is hiding in your spare room disguised as a man and a dog, and some other aliens are about to incinerate your house. Any questions?”

“Yes”.

“Me too”. The Doctor pulled out his key and tried unlocking the TARDIS, but the doors wouldn’t open. “No, no, no, no! Don’t do that, not now! It’s still rebuilding. Not letting us in”.

“Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated”.

“Come on”, the redhead told him, pulling him away from the TARDIS.

He pulled away from her and ran towards a shed. “No, wait, hang on. Wait, wait, wait, wait. The shed. I destroyed that shed last time I was here. Smashed it to pieces”.

“So there’s a new one. Let’s go”.

“Yeah, but the new one’s got old. It’s ten years old at least”. The Doctor sniffed the shed and then licked his fingers. “Twelve years. I’m not six months late, I’m twelve years late”.

“He’s coming”.

“You said six months. Why did you say six months?”

“We’ve got to go”.

“This matters. This is important. Why did you say six months?”

“Why did you say five minutes!”

It finally dawned on the Doctor that the woman standing in front of him was little Amelia Pond. Elise had thought she looked and sounded familiar.

“What?” the Doctor asked her.

“Come on”.

“What?”

“Come on!”

“What?” Amy grabbed the Doctor by the hand and dragged him after her, Elise following behind them.

“Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated”.

The three of them were walking through the village trying to get as far away as possible from Prisoner Zero.

“You’re Amelia!” the Doctor said.

“And you’re late”.

“Amelia Pond. You’re the little girl”.

“I’m Amelia and you’re late”.

“What happened?”

“Twelve years”.

“You hit me with a cricket bat”.

“Twelve years”.

“A cricket bat”.

“Twelve years and four psychiatrists”.

Elise wondered what a psychiatrist was. Earth was such a weird planet.

“Four?” the Doctor asked.

“I kept biting them”.

“Why?”

“They said you weren’t real”.

“Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated. Repeat”.

The announcement was coming out of an ice cream van.

“No, no, no, come on. What? We’re being staked out by an ice-cream van”, Amy said.

Ice cream? What was ice cream? Was it like custard? Elise had so many questions. Questions that would most likely be answered once they dealt with Prisoner Zero. Would it always be like this with the Doctor?

“Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated”.

“What’s that? Why are you playing that?” the Doctor asked the ice cream man.

“It’s supposed to be Claire De Lune”.

“Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated. Repeat. Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated”.

The announcement was coming from everything electronic.

“Doctor, what’s happening?” Amy asked.

“Repeat, Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated”.

The Doctor burst into the nearest home which happened to be the home of a Mrs. Angelo. “Hello! Sorry to burst in. We’re doing a special on television faults in this area”, he told her.

Amy and Elise ran in after him.

“Also crimes. Let’s have a look”. The Doctor ran over to the TV and messed with the remote.

“I was just about to phone. It’s on every channel. Oh, hello, Amy dear. Are you a policewoman now?” Mrs. Angelo asked.

“Well, sometimes”.

“I thought you were a nurse”.

“I can be a nurse”.

“Or actually a nun?”

“I dabble”.

“Amy, who are your friends?”

“Who’s Amy? You were Amelia”, the Doctor said.

“Yeah? Now I’m Amy”, she told him.

“Amelia Pond. That was a great name. Like Elise”. The Doctor gently ran a hand over Elise’s hair as the little Timelord smiled.

“Bit fairy tale”.

“I know you, don’t I? I’ve seen you somewhere before”, Mrs. Angelo said.

“Not me. Brand new face”. The Doctor opened his mouth making a silly face that made Elise giggle. “First time on. And what sort of job’s a kissogram?” he asked Amy.

“I go to parties and I kiss people. With outfits. It’s a laugh”.

“You were a little girl five minutes ago”. “You’re worse than my aunt”.

“I’m the Doctor. I’m worse than everybody’s aunt. And that is not how I’m introducing myself”.

The Doctor soniced the radio and the message came out in various different languages.

“Repetez. Le Prisonnier. Zero wird der menschliche”.

“Okay, so it’s everywhere, in every language. They’re broadcasting to the whole world”. The Doctor walked over to the window and looked out.

“What’s up there? What are you looking for?” Amy asked him.

“Okay. Planet this size, two poles, your basic molten core? They’re going to need a forty percent fission blast”.

A young man entered the house and the Doctor walked up to him as he continued talking.

“But they’ll have to power up first, won’t they? So assuming a medium sized starship, that’s 20 minutes. What do you think, twenty minutes? Yeah, twenty minutes. We’ve got twenty minutes”.

“Twenty minutes to what?” Amy asked him.

“Are you the Doctor?” the young man asked.

“He is, isn’t he? He’s the Doctor! The Raggedy Doctor. All those cartoons you did when you were little. The Raggedy Doctor. It’s him”, Mrs. Angelo said.

“Shut up”, Amy whispered. “Cartoons?” the Doctor asked.

“Gran, it’s him, isn’t it? It’s really him!” the young man said.

The Doctor walked over to the couch and sat down on it.

“Jeff, shut up. Twenty minutes to what?” Amy repeated.

“The human residence will be incinerated. Repeat”.

“The human residence. They’re not talking about your house, they’re talking about the planet. Somewhere up there, there’s a spaceship, and it’s going to incinerate the planet”, the Doctor explained.

As soon as the Doctor mentioned the planet burning, Elise screamed and ran to the Doctor. She wrapped her arms around his legs as she shook her head.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay”, he cooed.

She shook her head again.

The Doctor placed his hand on her temple as he was transported into her mind. Gallifrey was burning. He picked her up and held her close to him, hoping his hearts beating would comfort her.

“…will be incinerated. Repeat, Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated”.

“Twenty minutes to the end of the world”, the Doctor told them.

“Repeat, Prisoner Zero will vacate ‘the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated”.

The Doctor, Amy, and Elise left the house and walked around the village as the Doctor tried to come up with a plan.

“What is this place? Where are we?” the Doctor asked Amy.

“Leadworth”.

“Where’s the rest of it?”

“This is it”.

“Is there an airport?”

“No”.

“A nuclear power station?”

“No”.

“Even a little one?”

“No”.

“Nearest city?”

“Gloucester. Half an hour by car”.

“We don’t have half an hour. Do we have a car?”

“No”.

“Well, that’s good. Fantastic, that is. Twenty minutes to save the world and I’ve got a post office. And it’s shut. What is that?” The Doctor ran over a pond.

“It’s a duck pond”.

“Why aren’t there any ducks?”

“I don’t know. There’s never any ducks”.

“Then how do you know it’s a duck pond?”

“It just is. Is it important, the duck pond?”

“I don’t know. Why would I know?” The Doctor collapsed to the ground.

Elise sat down next to him.

“This is too soon. I’m not ready. I’m not done yet”, he told them.

The sky started to go dark as a disc covered the sun.

“What’s happening? Why’s it going dark? So what’s wrong with the sun?” Amy asked.

“Nothing. You’re looking at it through a force field. They’ve sealed off your upper atmosphere. Now they’re getting ready to boil the planet”. The Doctor stood up as everyone came out of their houses to see what was going on. “Oh, and here they come. The human race. The end comes, as it was always going to, down a video phone”.

“This isn’t real, is it? This is some kind of big wind up”.

“Why would I wind you up?”

“You told me you had a time machine”.

“And you believed me”.

“Then I grew up”.

“Oh, you never want to do that. No. Hang on. Shut up. Wait. I missed it”. The Doctor smacked himself in the forehead. “I saw it and I missed it”. He smacked himself again. “What did I see? I saw. What did I see? I saw, I saw, I saw”. The Doctor stood still as he racked his brain.

Could all Timelords do that? Or was that just a ‘Doctor’ thing?

“Twenty minutes. I can do it. Twenty minutes, the planet burns. Run to your loved ones and say goodbye, or stay and help me”, he told Amy.

“No”.

“I’m sorry?”

“No!” Amy grabbed the Doctor by the tie and dragged him over to a car.

“Amy, no, no, what are you doing?” the Doctor asked.

Amy slammed his tie in the door and locked the door with the keys she took from the driver.

“Are you out of your mind?” the Doctor asked her.

Elise, being so small, could do nothing but watch the adults argue.

“Who are you?” Amy asked.

“You know who I am”.

“No, really. Who are you?”

“Look at the sky. End of the world, twenty minutes”.

“Well, better talk quickly, then”.

“Amy, I am going to need my car back”, the driver said.

“Yes, in a bit. Now go and have coffee”.

“Right, yes”. The man walked off.

The Doctor pulled out the apple from his pocket and tossed it to Amy. “Catch”.

Amy stared down at the apple with the smiley face cut into it.

“I’m the Doctor and this is Elise, my daughter. We’re time travelers. Everything I told you twelve years ago is true. I’m real. What’s happening in the sky is real, and if you don’t let me go right now, everything you’ve ever known is over”, he told her.

“I don’t believe you”.

The Doctor grabbed Amy’s wrist. “Just twenty minutes. Just believe me for twenty minutes. Look at it. Fresh as the day you gave it to me. And you know it’s the same one. Look at Elise. She hasn’t aged at all. Amy, believe for twenty minutes”.

Amy unlocked the car. “What do we do?”

“Stop that nurse”.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more chapter of "Eleventh Hour".

The three of them ran onto the village green, where the Doctor grabbed the nurse’s phone.

“The sun’s going out, and you’re photographing a man and a dog. Why?” the Doctor asked him.

The man turned to Amy. “Amy?”

“Hi! Oh, this is Rory, he’s a friend”.

“Boyfriend”.

“Kind of boyfriend”.

“Amy!”

“Man and dog. Why?” the Doctor asked.

“Oh my God, it’s him”, Rory said.

“Just answer his question, please”, Amy told him.

“It’s him, though. The Doctor. The Raggedy Doctor”.

“Yeah, he came back”.

“But he was a story. He was a game”.

They didn’t have time for this! The Doctor grabbed Rory by his scrubs and got in his face. “Man and dog. Why? Tell me now”, the Doctor demanded.

“Sorry. Because he can’t be there. Because he's…” Rory said.

“In a hospital, in a coma”, the Doctor spoke with him.

“Yeah”.

“Knew it. Multiform, you see?”

He let go of Rory and smoothed out his scrubs. “Disguise itself as anything, but it needs a life feed. A psychic link with a living but dormant mind”. He poked Rory in the forehead.

Prisoner Zero found them and started barking at them.

“Prisoner Zero”, the Doctor said, stepping closer to him.

Elise ran forward and grabbed the Doctor’s hand while hiding behind him.

“What? There’s a Prisoner Zero too?” Rory asked.

“Yes”, Amy told him.

A spaceship with an eyeball came down from the sky.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. “See, that ship up there is scanning this area for non-terrestrial technology. And nothing says non-terrestrial like a sonic screwdriver”. He pressed the button as he held to the sky.

The streetlights started to explode and car alarms started to go off.

“I think someone’s going to notice, don’t you?” He pointed it at a red phone box which blew up.

The screwdriver had been pushed to its limits and it exploded in the Doctor’s hand.

He dropped it as it smoked and sizzled. “No, no! No, don’t do that! Argh!” The Doctor turned to look at Elise. “I am so making you a sonic screwdriver!”

“Look, it’s going”, Rory said as the spaceship flew off.

“No, come back. He’s here!” the Doctor yelled, “Come back! He’s here. Prisoner Zero is here. Come back, he’s here! Prisoner Zero is…”

“Doctor! The drain. It just sort of melted and went down the drain”, Amy told him.

“Well, of course it did”.

“What do we do now?”

“It’s hiding in human form. We need to drive it into the open. No TARDIS, no screwdriver, seventeen minutes. Come on, think. Think!”

“So that thing, that hid in my house for twelve years?”

“Multiforms can live for millennia. Twelve years is a pit-stop”.

“So how come you show up again on the same day that lot do? The same minute!”

“They’re looking for him, but they followed me. They saw me through the crack, got a fix, they’re only late because I am”.

“What’s he on about?” Rory asked.

“Nurse boy, give me your phone”, the Doctor told him.

“How can he be real? He was never real”.

“Phone. Now. Give me”.

Rory handed him the phone. “He was just a game. We were kids. You made me dress up as him”.

“These photos, they’re are all coma patients?” the Doctor asked as he flicked through the photos.

“Yeah”, Rory answered.

“No, they’re all the multiform. Eight comas, eight disguises for Prisoner Zero”.

“He had a dog, though. There’s a dog in a coma?” Amy asked.

“Well, the coma patient dreams he’s walking a dog, Prisoner Zero gets a dog. Laptop! Your friend, what was his name? Not him, the good-looking one”.

“Thanks”, Rory said.

“Jeff”, Amy told the Doctor.

“Oh, thanks”, Rory repeated.

“He had a laptop in his bag. A laptop. Big bag, big laptop. I need Jeff’s laptop. You two, get to the hospital. Get everyone out of that ward. Clear the whole floor. Phone me when you’re done”, the Doctor ordered. He grabbed Elise’s hand and they started to run back to Mrs. Angelo’s house. The Doctor entered the house and turned to Elise. “Stay down here”, he told her.

She shook her head as she furrowed her little brows.

“I’ll be right back”, he said kissing her forehead. He ran up the stairs, leaving Elise in the living room.

The living room didn’t look much different from a Timelord’s living room. Maybe humans weren’t that different from Timelords. They looked like them, but how similar was their culture?

Elise looked out the window at the blue sky. She’d miss the burnt orange color of Gallifrey. Before she could feel too sad, the Doctor came running down the stairs.

“C’mon”, he told Elise.

They ran out the front door.

“Need to get to the hospital”, he muttered. He spotted the abandoned fire engine and pulled her over to it. He climbed in the driver seat and placed Elise in his lap.

Luckily the firemen had left the keys in the ignition.

“Hold on”, the Doctor told Elise as he put it in drive.

Rory’s phone started ringing.

Elise pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to him.

“Amy?” he asked, “What? Look in the mirror. Don’t worry, I’ve commandeered a vehicle”. He reached up and turned the siren on.

Elise wondered what this thing was. What was its purpose?

Rory’s phone started to ring again.

“Are you in?” he asked Amy, “You need to get out of there. Amy? Amy, what’s happening? Amy, talk to me! Which window are you? Which window?”

Elise and the Doctor were quickly approaching the hospital. They pulled up to the right window and the Doctor sent Amy a text saying “Duck!” as the ladder extended. It went crashing through the window.

“Hop on”, the Doctor told Elise.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he climbed the ladder. When they got inside, he set Elise down on the ground and she ran over to Amy and Rory.

“Right! Hello. Am I late? No, three minutes to go. So still time”, the Doctor said.

“Time for what, Time Lord?” Prisoner Zero asked.

“Take the disguise off. They’ll find you in a heartbeat. Nobody dies”.

“The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire”.

“Okay. You came to this world by opening a crack in space and time. Do it again. Just leave”.

“I did not open the crack”.

“Somebody did”.

“The cracks in the skin of the universe, don’t you know where they came from? You don’t, do you?” The voice changed to a little girl’s. “The Doctor in the TARDIS doesn’t know. Doesn’t know. Doesn’t know!” it taunted before changing back to an adult voice. “The universe is cracked. The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall”.

The clock on the wall changed to 0:00.

“And we’re off! Look at that. Look at that! Yeah, I know, just a clock. Whatever. But do you know what’s happening right now? In one little bedroom, my team are working. Jeff and the world. And do you know what they’re doing? They’re spreading the word all over the world, quantum fast. The word is out. And do you know what the word is? The word is Zero. Now, me, if I was up in the sky in a battleship, monitoring all Earth communications, I’d probably take that as a hint. And if I had a whole battle fleet surrounding the planet, I’d be able track a simple old computer virus to its source in, what, under a minute? The source, by the way, is right here”. He pulled out Rory’s phone as a bright light came from outside. “Oh! And I think they just found us!”

“The Atraxi are limited. While I’m in this form, they’ll still be unable to detect me. They’ve tracked a phone, not me”, Prisoner Zero told him.

“Yeah, but this is the good bit. I mean, this is my favorite bit. Do you know what this phone is full of? Pictures of you. Every form you’ve learned to take, right here. Ooo, and being uploaded about now. And the final score is, no TARDIS, no screwdriver, two minutes to spare. Who da man?”

No one said anything.

“Oh, I’m never saying that again. Fine”, the Doctor muttered.

“Then I shall take a new form”, Prisoner Zero told him.

“Oh, stop it. You know you can’t. It takes months to form that kind of psychic link”.

“And I’ve had years”.

Amy collapsed to the ground.

The Doctor ran over to them. “No! Amy? You’ve got to hold on. Amy? Don’t sleep! You’ve got to stay awake, please”.

Rory and Elise watched as Prisoner Zero transformed into the Doctor.

“Doctor”, Rory told him.

The Doctor looked up. “Well, that’s rubbish. Who’s that supposed to be?”

“It’s you”.

“Me? Is that what I look like?”

“You don’t know?”

“Busy day”.

The Doctor jumped to his feet. “Why me, though? You’re linked with her. Why are you copying me?”

“I’m not”, Prisoner Zero said. A copy of little Amelia came out and held the Doctor’s hand. “Poor Amy Pond. Still such a child inside. Dreaming of the magic Doctor she knows will return to save her. What a disappointment you’ve been. How fair is it that one little girl gets to go with you and the other doesn’t?”

“No, she’s dreaming about me because she can hear me”. He ran back over to Amy and knelt down next to her. “Amy, don’t just hear me, listen. Remember the room, the room in your house you couldn’t see. Remember you went inside. I tried to stop, but you did. You went in the room. You went inside. Amy, dream about what you saw”.

“No. No. No!” Prisoner Zero yelled. Prisoner Zero transformed into a snake like creature.

“Well done, Prisoner Zero. A perfect impersonation of yourself”, the Doctor told them.

“Prisoner Zero is located. Prisoner Zero is restrained”, the voice of the Atraxi said.

“Silence, Doctor. Silence will fall”, Prisoner Zero said before disappearing with a rush of wind.

The Doctor ran over to the window before pulling out Rory’s phone as he angrily typed.

“The sun. It’s back to normal, right? That’s, that’s good, yeah? That means it’s over?” Rory asked.

Amy opened her eyes.

“Amy. Are you okay? Are you with us?” Rory asked her.

“What happened?”

“He did it. The Doctor did it”.

“No, I didn't”, the Doctor told him.

“What are you doing?”

“Tracking the signal back. Sorry in advance”.

“About what?”

“The bill”. The Doctor held the phone up to his ear as he started speaking. “Oi, I didn’t say you could go! Article fifty seven of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established level five planet, and you were going to burn it? What? Did you think no-one was watching? You lot, back here, now”. He hung up and tossed the phone back to Rory. “Okay, now I’ve done it”.

“Did he just bring them back? Did he just save the world from aliens and then bring all the aliens back again?” Rory asked as the Doctor, Elise, and Amy ran out of the ward.

“Where are you going?” Amy asked him.

“The roof. No, hang on”. He ran into a locker room.

“What’s in here?” Amy asked as he rifled through clothes.

“I’m saving the world - I need a decent shirt. To hell with the raggedy. Time to put on a show”. He hurriedly started to button his shirt.

“You just summoned aliens back to Earth. Actual aliens, deadly aliens, aliens of death, and now you’re taking your clothes off. Amy, he’s taking his clothes off”, Rory said.

“Turn your back if it embarrasses you”, the Doctor told him.

“Are you stealing clothes now? Those clothes belong to people, you know!” Rory turned around.

Amy put her hand over Elise’s eyes. She might have been an alien, but she was still a child.

“Are you not going to turn your back?” Rory asked Amy.

“No”.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’ve finally made it through “The Eleventh Hour”. Hopefully the next couple of episodes won’t be as long.

They stepped out onto the roof.

The Doctor had several ties around his neck, still deciding on which one to go with.

The Atraxi were hovering there.

“So this was a good idea, was it? They were leaving”, Amy told the Doctor.

“Leaving is good. Never coming back is better. Come on, then! The Doctor will see you now”.

The eyeball dropped down and scanned the Doctor. “You are not of this world”, it said as the Doctor slid on his new suspenders.

“No, but I’ve put a lot of work into it”. The Doctor held up a tie. “Oh, hmm, I don’t know. What do you think?”

“Is this world important?”

“Important? What’s that mean, important?” The Doctor discarded the tie and tossed it at Rory who caught it. “Six billion people live here. Is that important? Here’s a better question. Is this world a threat to the Atraxi?” He tossed another tie at Rory. “Well, come on. You’re monitoring the whole planet. Is this world a threat?”

A projection of the earth appeared.

“No”.

“Are the peoples of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?”

“No”.

“Okay. One more. Just one. Is this world protected? Because you’re not the first lot to come here. Oh, there have been so many”.

The projection showed monsters that Elise had never seen before and some she had nightmares about.

“And what you’ve got to ask is, what happened to them?” the Doctor asked as he tied his bowtie and slipped on his new jacket.

A projection showed ten men. The last one being the man who saved her.

The Doctor stepped through the projection. “Hello. I’m the Doctor. Basically, run”.

The eyeball was sucked back into the spaceship and it fled.

Elise and the Doctor heard the sound of the TARDIS engines. The Doctor reached into his jacket and pulled out the TARDIS key. He grabbed Elise’s hand as they ran back to the blue box sitting in Amy’s garden. “Okay, what have you got for me this time?” he asked. The Doctor slipped his key into the lock and opened the door.

Elise’s mouth dropped open.

“Look at you. Oh, you sexy thing! Look at you”, the Doctor said.

The two Timelords entered the TARDIS and the Doctor ran to the console, pressing buttons and flipping switches.

Elise hadn’t moved from her spot in the doorway.

“Right”, the Doctor said to himself. He walked over to Elise and picked her up, carrying her over to the jump seat. He knelt down in front of her as he did what he should have when he met her. “Hello. I’m the Doctor. What’s your name?”

Elise said nothing.

“Okay…is there a reason you don’t talk?”

She placed her small hand on his temple and he heard shouting.

“Ah”. He hoped that in time she would trust him enough to start speaking again. “Do you have a name?”

She showed him giving her the name Elise.

“Well if you like it that much, you can keep it. It’s a nice name, huh?”

Elise smiled and nodded. The next thing she showed him was him regenerating.

“You’re obviously young, so I’m assuming you don’t know what regeneration is. Sometimes, when a Timelord is hurt or dying, they regenerate into a new person. But no matter what face we have, deep down is what matters. I’m still the man who saved you in Naismith Manor and I meant what I said when I told you it was me and you, no matter what”. He chose to leave out the fact that he had killed all the Timelords.

She was too young to know that or understand why he did it. She would when she was older.

“Now, the thing we’re in is called a TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space. She can take us anywhere and any when. It’s the same one as before. She just gave herself a bit of a makeover”. It had been a long time since the Doctor had had children, but he looked forward to raising Elise and teaching her what it meant to be a Timelord.

The next time they appeared in Amy’s garden, it was night time. Amy came running outside and saw the two Timelords.

“Sorry about running off earlier. Brand new TARDIS. Bit exciting. Just had a quick hop to the moon and back to run her in. She’s ready for the big stuff now”, the Doctor told her.

Amy came up to them. “It’s you. You came back”.

“Course I came back. I always come back. Something wrong with that?”

“And you kept the clothes”.

“Well, I just saved the world. The whole planet, for about the millionth time, no charge. Yeah, shoot me. I kept the clothes”.

“Including the bow tie”.

“Yeah, it’s cool. Bow ties are cool”. The Doctor fiddled with it.

Elise happened to like the bowtie.

“Are you two from another planet?” Amy asked.

“Yeah”.

“Okay”.

“So what do you think?”

“Of what?”

“Other planets. Want to check some out?”

“What does that mean?”

“It means… Well, it means come with me. Us. Come with us”.

“Where?”

“Wherever you like”.

“All that stuff that happened. The hospital, the spaceships, Prisoner Zero”.

“Oh, don’t worry, that’s just the beginning. There’s loads more”.

“Yeah, but those things, those amazing things, all that stuff. That was two years ago”.

“Oh! Oops”.

“Yeah”.

“So that's…”

“Fourteen years!”

“Fourteen years since fish custard. Amy Pond, the girl who waited, you’ve waited long enough”.

“When I was a kid, you said there was a swimming pool and a library, and the swimming pool was in the library”.

“Yeah. Not sure where it’s got to now. It’ll turn up. So, coming?”

“No”.

“You wanted to come fourteen years ago”.

“I grew up”.

“Don’t worry. I’ll soon fix that”. He snapped his fingers and the door opened.

The Doctor and Elise watched as Amy entered the TARIDS, transfixed. They followed her in and the Doctor shut the door.

“Well? Anything you want to say? Any passing remarks? I’ve heard them all”.

Elise followed the Doctor as he stepped up to the console.

“I’m in my nightie”, was the only thing Amy could manage to say.

“Oh, don’t worry. Plenty of clothes in the wardrobe. And possibly a swimming pool. So, all of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will. Where do you want to start?”

Amy joined them on the platform. “You are so sure that I’m coming”.

“Yeah, I am”.

“Why?”

“Cause you’re the Scottish girl in the English village, and I know how that feels”.

“Oh, do you?”

“All these years living here, most of your life, and you’ve still got that accent. Yeah, you’re coming”. The Doctor messed with various things on the console.

“Can you get me back for tomorrow morning?”

“It’s a time machine. I can get you back five minutes ago. Why, what’s tomorrow?”

“Nothing. Nothing. Just you know, stuff”.

“All right, then. Back in time for stuff”.

A new sonic screwdriver was ejected from a hole on the console.

“Oh! A new one! Lovely. Thanks, dear”, the Doctor told the TARDIS.

A smaller, simpler one followed.

He handed it to Elise and ruffled her hair. “I’ll teach you how to use it later, but make sure you have it on you at all times. Never know when it’s going to come in handy”. He walked over to a typewriter wired into the console.

“Why me?” Amy asked him.

“Why not?”

“No, seriously. You are asking me to run away with you in the middle of the night. It’s a fair question. Why me?”

“I don’t know. Fun. Do I have to have a reason?”

“People always have a reason”.

“Do I look like people?”

“Yes”.

“Been knocking around on my own for a while. My choice, but I’ve started talking to myself all the time. It’s giving me earache”.

“You’re lonely? But you’ve got Elise”.

“Well, I lied. She’s not really my daughter and I kinda just found her”.

“That’s it? Just that?”

Elise looked up and saw the crack on the monitor. The same one from Amy’s bedroom. The Doctor was lying.

“Just that. Promise”.

“Okay”.

As Amy walked away, he turned off the monitor, before looking down at Elise with a finger on his lips. She nodded. The Doctor walked over to Amy where she stood next to one of the rails. “So, are you okay, then? Because this place, sometimes it can make people feel a bit, you know…”

“I’m fine. It’s just, there’s a whole world in here, just like you said. It’s all true. I thought. Well, I started to think that maybe you were just like a madman with a box”.

“Amy Pond, there’s something you’d better understand about me, because it’s important, and one day your life may depend on it. I am definitely a madman with a box. Ha ha! Yeah”. He ran back over to the console and grabbed one of the levers. “Goodbye Leadworth, hello everything”. He flipped it and the TARDIS made its normal wheezing sound as they took off.


	7. Chapter 7

“Are you sure you don’t want to try it?” the Doctor asked Elise. He was currently holding Amy out of the TARDIS by her ankle.

Elise shook her head.

“Come on, Pond”, he said pulling her inside, “Now do you believe me?”

“Okay, your box is a spaceship. It’s really, really a spaceship. We are in space! What are we breathing?”

“I’ve extended the air shell. We’re fine”.

The Doctor turned to Elise. “You’re scared, right?”

Elise nodded.

“That’s okay. It’s okay to be scared. But here’s the thing, as long as you’ve got me nothing bad will ever happen to you”. He put his hand out and Elise placed her small one in his. He slowly walked forward and Elise floated out into space.

Her hearts were beating out of her chest and she grabbed onto the Doctor’s wrist with her other hand. She kept her blue eyes on his green ones as she floated there.

He finally smiled and pulled her back in. He smiled as he kissed her forehead. “Good girl. My brave, brave girl”. The Doctor looked out the door and saw a city floating there. “Now that’s interesting. Twenty ninth century. Solar flares roast the earth, and the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves. Whole nations”.

Elise and the Doctor ran back to console as the door closed.

“Doctor?” Amy asked.

“Migrating to the stars”.

“Doctor?”

“Isn’t that amazing?”

“Doctor!”

The Doctor ran over to the doors and opened them.

Amy was hanging onto the side of the TARDIS.

“Well, come on. I’ve found us a spaceship”, he said. The Doctor pulled her back inside and they observed the spaceship from a screen. “This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. All of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It’s Britain, but metal. That’s not just a ship, that’s an idea. That’s a whole country, living and laughing and shopping. Searching the stars for a new home”.

The Doctor sounded kinda sad, so Elise wrapped her small hand around his and he smiled down at her in thanks.

“Can we go out and see?” Amy asked.

“Course we can. But first, there’s a thing”.

“A thing?”

“An important thing. In fact, Thing One. We are observers only”. He held a magnifying glass up to his eyes and then put it down. “That’s the one rule I’ve always stuck to in all my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets”.

Elise hadn’t known the Doctor for long, but she had a strong suspicion that he was lying.

A video of a girl crying popped up on the monitor.

“Ooo, that’s interesting”, the Doctor said.

“So we’re like a wildlife documentary, yeah? Because if they see a wounded little cub or something, they can’t just save it, they’ve got to keep filming and let it die”, Amy said.

The Doctor and Elise slipped out of the TARDIS and ran over to the little girl. The Doctor stopped to talk to her, but she ran off. He turned back to the TARDIS and motioned for Amy to join them.

“Welcome to London Market. You are being monitored”.

Amy came out of the TARDIS. “I’m in the future. Like hundreds of years in the future. I’ve been dead for centuries”.

“Oh, lovely. You’re a cheery one. Never mind dead, look at this place. Isn’t it wrong?” the Doctor asked as they started to explore the marketplace.

“What’s wrong?”

“Come on, use your eyes. Notice everything. What’s wrong with this picture?”

“Is it the bicycles? Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles”.

“Says the girl in the nightie”.

“Oh my God, I’m in my nightie!”

Elise giggled at the embarrassment in Amy’s voice.

The ginger looked down at her. “Oi. Hush you”.

“Now, come on, look around you. Actually look”, the Doctor told her.

“London Market is a crime-free zone”.

“Life on a giant starship. Back to basics. Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer. Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state. Excuse me”. The Doctor ran over to a table and grabbed a glass of water.

“What are you doing?” the man sitting at the table asked him.

The Doctor set it on the floor and looked at it for a moment before returning it to the table.

Wait. Why wasn’t the water moving? If they were on a ship, wouldn’t there be vibrations from the engines?

The Doctor looked down at the small Timelord. He could practically see her little brain working it out. She would be a clever one, he could tell.

“Sorry. Checking all the water in this area. There’s an escaped fish. Where was I?”

“Why did you just do that with the water?” Amy asked.

“Don’t know. I think a lot. It’s hard to keep track. Now, police state. Do you see it yet?”

“Where?”

The Doctor snapped his fingers and pointed to the little girl from earlier. “There”. He walked over to the little girl, leaving Elise with Amy. Eventually the Doctor walked back over to them and they sat on a red bench, watching the girl.

“One little girl crying. So?” Amy asked him.

“Crying silently. I mean, children cry because they want attention, because they’re hurt or afraid. But when they cry silently, it’s because they just can’t stop. Any parent knows that”.

“Are you a parent? I mean, besides to Elise”.

The Doctor was silent for a moment before he started talking again, completely avoiding the question. “Hundreds of parents walking past who spot her and not one of them’s asking her what’s wrong, which means they already know, and it’s something they don’t talk about. Secrets. They’re not helping her, so it’s something they’re afraid of. Shadows, whatever they’re afraid of, it’s nowhere to be seen, which means it’s everywhere. Police state”.

The Doctor and Amy looked back and saw she was gone.

“Where’d she go?” Amy asked.

“Deck two oh seven. Apple Sesame block, dwelling 54A. You’re looking for Mandy Tanner”, the Doctor told her. He pulled out a wallet. “Oh, er, this fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her”. He handed the wallet to Amy. “Took me four goes. Ask her about those things. The smiling fellows in the booths. They’re everywhere”.

“But they’re just things”.

“They’re clean. Everything else here is all battered and filthy. Look at this place. But no one’s laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of them. Look. Ask Mandy, why are people scared of the things in the booths?”

“No, hang on. What do I do? I don’t know what I’m doing here and I’m not even dressed”.

“It’s this or Leadworth. What do you think? Let’s see. What will Amy Pond choose?”

Amy looked at him for a moment and you could see her decision on her face.

“Ha ha, gotcha. Meet me back here in half an hour”.

“What are you going to do?”

“What I always do”.

The Doctor stood up. “Stay out of trouble. Badly”. He hopped over the back of the bench and picked Elise up, setting her on his shoulders.

“So is this how it works, Doctor? You never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there’s children crying?” Amy asked.

“Yes”.

The Doctor climbed down the ladder and set Elise on the ground. “Really need to come up with a better way to carry you”, he muttered. He ran his hands along the walls and watched as Elise did the same. “Can’t be. Can you feel it?” he asked her.

Elise nodded.

He pulled out his screwdriver and scanned the wall.

Elise noticed a glass of water on the floor, just like the Doctor had done upstairs, and tugged on his jacket.

He got down on the floor on his stomach and looked the water that still wasn’t moving.

A woman came towards them with a mask on her face and dressed in a red cape. “The impossible truth in a glass of water. Not many people see it. But you do, don’t you, Doctor?” she asked.

“You know me?”

“Keep your voice down. They’re everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass”.

“Who says I see anything?”

“Don’t waste time. At the marketplace, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?”

“No engine vibration on deck. Ship this size, engine this big, you’d feel it. The water would move. So, we’d thought we’d take a look”. He walked over to a control box and opened it. “It doesn’t make sense. These power couplings, they’re not connected. Look. Look, they’re dummies, see?” He knocked on the wall next. “And behind this wall, nothing. It’s hollow. If I didn’t know better, I’d say there was…”

“No engine at all”, they spoke in unison.

“But it’s working. This ship is traveling through space. I saw it”, the Doctor told her.

“The impossible truth, Doctor. We’re traveling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly”.

“How?”

“I don’t know. There’s a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor. You’re our only hope. Your friend is safe. This will take you to her. Now go, quickly!” The woman handed the Doctor a tracking device and turned to leave.

“Who are you? How do I find you again?” the Doctor asked her.

“I am Liz Ten, and I will find you”.

The Doctor looked down at Elise and then the tracking device in his hand. “Come on. We have to find Amy”, he told her.

According to the device, she was being held in a room.

Outside the door was Mandy, the little girl.

The Doctor soniced the lock and burst in.

A video recording of Amy was playing on a screen. “Listen to me. This isn’t a trick. This is for real”.

“Amy?” the Doctor asked.

“You’ve got to find the Doctor”. Amy turned off the video.

“What have you done?” 

"I...I don't remember."

The Doctor scanned a device hanging from the ceiling. “Yeah, your basic memory wipe job. Must have erased about twenty minutes”.

“But why would I choose to forget?”

“Because everyone does. Everyone chooses the Forget button”, Mandy told her.

“Did you?” the Doctor asked.

“I’m not eligible to vote yet. I’m twelve. Any time after you’re sixteen, you’re allowed to the see the film and make your choice. And then once every five years”.

“And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they’ve learned. Democracy in action”.

“How do you not know about this? Are you Scottish too?”

“Oh, I’m way worse than Scottish. I can’t even see the movie. Won’t play for me”.

“It played for me”, Amy told him.

“The difference being the computer doesn’t accept me as human”.

“Why not? You look human”.

“No, you look Time Lord. We came first”.

Oh, well that answered one of Elise’s many questions.

“So there are other Time Lords, yeah? Besides you and Elise”, Amy said.

The Doctor looked down at Elise. He needed to be very careful what he said in front of her. “No. There were, but there aren't…Just us now. Long story. There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened. And you know what? I’d love to forget it all, every last bit of it, but I don’t. Not ever. Because this is what I do, every time, every day, every second. This. Hold tight. We’re bringing down the government”. The Doctor slammed his fist down on the “protest” button.

The door shut, trapping him, Elise, and Amy inside.

The Smiler in the booth became a Scowler and the floor opened up.

The Doctor picked Elise up, who hid her face in his neck. “Say wheee!”

Amy and Elise screamed as they fell down the chute.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a hard deciding where to cut this chapter off.

The Doctor and Elise landed on something squishy and nasty smelling. Amy landed next to them as the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver.

Elise did the same and pressed the button. It made a buzzing noise just like the Doctor’s only the tip of his was green and hers was yellow.

The Doctor smiled seeing the tiny Timelord copy him. “High speed air cannon. Lousy way to travel”, he told Amy.

“Where are we?”

“Six hundred feet down, twenty miles laterally, puts us at the heart of the ship. I’d say Lancashire. What’s this then, a cave? Can’t be a cave. Looks like a cave”.

Amy flung some of the stuff at the Doctor. “It’s a rubbish dump, and it’s minging!”

“Yes, but only food refuse. Organic, coming through feeder tubes from all over the ship”.

“The floor’s all squidgy, like a water bed”.

Elise noticed it too and bounced lightly.

“But feeding what, though?” the Doctor asked.

“It’s sort of rubbery, feel it. Wet and slimy”, Amy told him.

There was a growl or a groan and the Doctor and Elise realized where they were.

Elise tugged on the Doctor’s jacket and pointed at her tongue.

“Right you are, Elise. Amy, it’s not a floor, it’s a… So…” the Doctor said.

“It’s a what?” Amy asked.

“The next word is kind of a scary word. You probably want to take a moment, get yourself in a calm place. Go omm”.

“Omm…”

“It’s a tongue”.

“A tongue?”

“A tongue. A great big tongue”.

“This is a mouth. This whole place is a mouth? We’re in a mouth?”

“Yes, yes, yes. But on the plus side, roomy”.

“How do we get out?”

The Doctor started scanning with his screwdriver. “How big is this beastie? It’s gorgeous. Blimey, if this is just the mouth, I’d love to see the stomach”.

The creature grumbled.

“Though not right now”, the Doctor added.

“Doctor, how do we get out?” Amy asked him.

“Okay, it’s being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so the normal entrance is…closed for business”.

Behind them was a wall of large teeth.

“We could try, though”, Amy said.

“No, stop, don’t move”, he told her as the floor started vibrating, “Too late. It’s started”.

“What has?”

“Swallow reflex”. The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the mouth.

“What are you doing?” Amy asked him.

“I’m vibrating the chemo-receptors”.

“Chemo-what?”

“The eject button”.

“How does a mouth have an eject button?”

“Think about it!”

Elise’s eyes went wide as she noticed a wave of vomit coming towards them.

The Doctor grabbed her and held her close to his chest. “Right, then. This isn’t going to be big on dignity. Geronimo!”

Amy screamed as it got closer to them.

They eventually landed in an overflow pipe.

Elise coughed as the Doctor set her down. She wobbled on her feet, the smell making her feel a bit dizzy.

He reached out and grabbed her to keep her from falling over. “Woah, easy there”.

Amy sat up next to her.

“There’s nothing broken, there’s no sign of concussion and yes, you are covered in sick”, the Doctor told her.

“Where are we?”

The Doctor started to sonic the controls next to the door. “Overspill pipe, at a guess”.

“Oh, God, it stinks”.

“Oh, that’s not the pipe”.

“Oh”.

Amy took a moment to sniff her nightie. “Phew. Can we get out?”

“One door, one door switch, one condition. We forget everything we saw. Look familiar?”

A Forget button lit up.

“That’s the carrot. Ooo, here’s the stick”.

Two Smiler booths lit up.

“There’s a creature living in the heart of this ship. What’s it doing there?” the Doctor asked.

The Smilers’ heads turned. They now had frowns on their faces.

“No, that’s not going to work on me, so come on. Big old beast below decks, and everyone who protests gets shoved down its throat. That how it works?”

The heads turned again with scowls on their faces this time.

Elise grabbed the Doctor’s hand in fear. She did not like those machines.

“Oh, stop it”, the Doctor told them, “I’m not leaving and I’m not forgetting, and what are you fellows going to do about it? Stick out your tongues, huh?”

The booths opened up and the Smilers stepped out.

“Doctor?” Amy asked.

Liz 10 appeared behind them and shot the Smilers.

“Look who it is. You look a lot better without your mask”, the Doctor told her.

“You must be Amy. Liz. Liz 10”.

Amy shook her hand. “Hi”.

“Yuck. Lovely hair, Amy. Shame about the sick”.

The little girl Mandy entered the tunnel.

“You know Mandy, yeah? She’s very brave”, Liz told them.

“How did you find us?” the Doctor asked her.

“Stuck my gizmo on you”. She tossed the Doctor a tracking device. “Been listening in. Nice moves on the hurl escape. So, what’s the big fella doing here?”

“You’re over sixteen, you’ve voted. Whatever this is, you’ve chosen to forget about it”.

“No. Never forgot, never voted, not technically a British subject”.

“Then who and what are you, and how do you know me?”

“You’re a bit hard to miss, love. Mysterious stranger, M O consistent with higher alien intelligence, hair of an idiot”.

The Doctor tried to run a hand through his hair, forgetting that it was sticking to his scalp because of the sick. Elise patted his hand, telling him in her own way that she liked his hair.

“I’ve been brought up on the stories. My whole family was”, Liz told him.

“Your family?”

The Smilers started to move.

“They’re repairing. Doesn’t take them long. Let’s move”. Liz led them through a basement as she explained how she knew the Doctor. “The Doctor. Old drinking buddy of Henry Twelve. Tea and scones with Liz Two. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you, weren’t she? Knighted and exiled you on the same day. And so much for the Virgin Queen, you bad, bad boy”.

The Doctor looked down at Elise, who was oblivious to what Liz 10 was insinuating. “Liz Ten…”

“Liz Ten, yeah. Elizabeth the Tenth. And down!” She turned around and gave them just enough time to duck before she shot the Smilers again. “I’m the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule”.

They entered a corridor and the Doctor stopped to observe the tentacles banging on the bars.

“There’s a high-speed Vator through there. Oh, yeah. There’s these things. Any ideas?” Liz 10 asked.

“Doctor, I saw one of these up top. There was a hole in the road, like it had burst through like a root”, Amy told him.

“Exactly like a root. It’s all one creature, the same one we were inside, reaching out. It must be growing through the mechanisms of the entire ship”.

“What, like an infestation? Someone’s helping it. Feeding it. Feeding my subjects to it. Come on. Got to keep moving”, Liz 10 said walking off.

Mandy followed after her, leaving the Doctor, Elise, and Amy.

Elise’s eyes filled with tears as she watched the tentacles. She reached out to touch them, but her arm was too short. Did they know what they were doing to the poor creature? Why couldn’t they hear it?

“Doctor? Elise?” Amy asked.

“Oh, Amy. We should never have come here”. The Doctor gently pulled Elise away from the bars. “Come along, Elise”.

They followed Liz 10 to her state rooms, where they cleaned up.

There were glasses of water all over her floor.

“Why all the glasses?” the Doctor asked her.

“To remind me every single day that my government is up to something, and it’s my duty to find out what”.

The Doctor picked up her mask. “A queen going undercover to investigate her own kingdom?”

“Secrets are being kept from me. I don’t have a choice. Ten years I’ve been at this. My entire reign. And you’ve achieved more in one afternoon”.

“How old were you when you came to the throne?”

“Forty. Why?”

“What, you’re fifty now?” Amy asked, “No way”.

“Yeah, they slowed my body clock. Keeps me looking like the stamps”, Liz 10 explained.

“And you always wear this in public?” the Doctor asked.

“Undercover’s not easy when you’re me. The autographs, the bunting”. “Air-balanced porcelain. Stays on by itself, because it’s perfectly sculpted to your face”.

“Yeah? So what?”

“Oh, Liz. So everything”.

The door opened and a man entered, along with a group of people in black robes.

“What are you doing? How dare you come in here!” Liz 10 told them.

“Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship UK. You will come with us now”, the leader said.

“Why would I do that?”

The man’s head turned as he became a Scowler.

Elise jumped back and hid behind the Doctor.

“How can they be Smilers?” Amy asked.

“Half Smiler, half human”, the Doctor explained.

“Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen. On whose authority is this done?” Liz 10 asked them.

“The highest authority, Ma'am”, the man said.

“I am the highest authority”.

“Yes, ma'am. You must go now, Ma'am”.

“Where?”

“The Tower, Ma'am”.


	9. Chapter 9

They entered the Tower and Elise immediately ran over to where the tentacles were flailing against metal bars. Tears filled her eyes again as she listened to the creature scream.

“Doctor, where are we?” Amy asked.

The Doctor leaned down and stroked Elise’s hair. “The lowest point of Starship UK. The dungeon”.

A man stepped forward and addressed Liz 10. “Ma'am”.

“Hawthorne. So this is where you hid yourself away. I think you’ve got some explaining to do”.

A couple of children were walking around the dungeons.

“There’s children down here. What’s all that about?” the Doctor asked.

“Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast. For some reason, it won’t eat the children. You’re the first adults it’s spared. You’re very lucky”, Hawthorne told him.

“Yeah, look at us. Torture chamber of the Tower of London. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Except it’s not a torture chamber, is it? Well, except it is. Except it isn’t. Depends on your angle”. The Doctor walked over to a device shocking the brain of the creature.

“What’s that?” Liz 10 asked.

“Well, like I say, it depends on the angle. It’s either the exposed pain center of big fella’s brain, being tortured relentlessly”, the Doctor explained.

“Or?”

“Or it’s the gas pedal, the accelerator. Starship UK’s go faster button”.

“I don’t understand”.

Elise felt her anger rising. Didn’t they realize what they were doing to the creature?

“Don’t you? Try to. Go on. The spaceship that could never fly. No vibration on deck. This creature, this poor, trapped, terrified creature. It’s not infesting you, it’s not invading, it’s what you have instead of an engine. And this place down here is where you hurt it, where you torture it, day after day, just to keep it moving”.

Liz 10 just looked at him.

“Tell you what. Normally, it’s above the range of human hearing”. He ran over to where Elise sat with the tentacle and pulled the metal grating off, freeing it. “This is the sound none of you wanted to hear”. The Doctor soniced the tentacle and everyone could hear the creature screaming.

Elise put her hands over her ears. She didn’t want to hear it anymore.

“Stop it. Who did this?” Liz 10 asked.

“We act on instructions from the highest authority”, Hawthorne told her.

“I am the highest authority. The creature will be released, now. I said now! Is anyone listening to me?”

“Liz. Your mask”, the Doctor told her, holding the mask in his hands.

“What about my mask?”

He tossed it to her. “Look at it. It’s old. At least two hundred years old, I’d say”.

“Yeah? It’s an antique. So?”

“Yeah, an antique made by craftsmen over two hundred years ago and perfectly sculpted to your face. They slowed your body clock, all right, but you’re not fifty. Nearer three hundred. And it’s been a long old reign”.

“Nah, its ten years. I’ve been on this throne ten years”.

“Ten years. And the same ten years, over and over again, always leading you here”. The Doctor took her hand and led her over to a chair and TV.

On the table were two buttons, Forget and Abdicate.

“What have you done?” Liz asked Hawthorne.

“Only what you have ordered. We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us”.

A video switched on of Liz sitting and talking to the camera. “If you are watching this. If I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower Of London. The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale. Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travelers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind”.

The Doctor looked down at Elise and picked her up, holding her to his chest. She wrapped her tiny hand around his bowtie and listened to his beating hearts. He kissed her forehead as they took comfort in each other.

“And what we have done to it breaks my heart. The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came, like a miracle. The last of the Star Whales. We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the Forget button. Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button. Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate. I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision”.

“I voted for this. Why would I do that?” Amy asked.

“Because you knew if we stayed here, I’d be faced with an impossible choice. Humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save me from that. And that was wrong. You don’t ever decide what I need to know”.

“I don’t even remember doing it!”

“You did it. That’s what counts”.

Elise could tell the Doctor was becoming increasingly angry as he set her on the floor.

“I’m, I’m sorry”, Amy told him.

“Oh, I don’t care. When I’m done here, you’re going home”. He walked over to some machines and pulled out his screwdriver.

“Why? Because I made a mistake? One mistake?” Amy asked, “I don’t even remember doing it. Doctor!”

“Yeah, I know. You’re only human”.

“What are you doing?” Liz asked.

“The worst thing I’ll ever do. I’m going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale’s brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the whale won’t feel it”, the Doctor told her.

What? He couldn’t do that! How could he even consider that? It was an innocent creature.

“That’ll be like killing it”, Amy said.

“Look, three options. One, I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two, I kill everyone on this ship. Three, I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name, because I won’t be the Doctor any more”.

“There must be something we can do, some other way”, Liz said.

What happened next, shocked Elise.

The Doctor practically exploded. “Nobody talk to me. Nobody human has anything to say to me today!”

Elise hit the ground with her hands over her head.

“Elise!” Amy tried to come near her, but Elise just screamed and tried to scoot away from her as tears fell from her eyes.

The Doctor ran over to her and picked her up. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. I’m sorry”.

Elise shook in his arms and the Doctor felt horrible for scaring her.

Amy walked over to them. “Hey. Ellie”.

Elise raised her head.

“Why don’t you come sit with me and Mandy?” she asked.

The Doctor handed her off to Amy and they sat down next to the tentacle.

Elise reached out and stroked it. She giggled as it ticked her neck.

The other children came over and started to pet it when it hit Amy. “Doctor, stop. Whatever you’re doing, stop it now!” Amy told him, “Sorry, Your Majesty. Going to need a hand”. She grabbed Liz’s hand and dragged her over to buttons.

“Amy, no! No!” the Doctor yelled.

She slammed Liz’s hand down on the Abdicate button.

The Star Whale let out a growl and the spaceship shook.

The Doctor grabbed Elise and she held onto his legs as everything settled. “Amy, what have you done?”

“Nothing at all. Am I right?”

“We’ve increased speed”, Hawthorne said.

“Yeah, well, you’ve stopped torturing the pilot. Gotta help”, Amy told them.

“It’s still here. I don’t understand”, Liz said.

“The Star Whale didn’t come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered. You didn’t have to trap it or torture it. That was all just you. It came because it couldn’t stand to watch your children cry. What if you were really old, and really kind and alone? Your whole race dead. No future. What couldn’t you do then? If you were that old, and that kind…” Amy turned around to face the Doctor and Elise. “…and the very last of your kind, you couldn’t just stand there and watch children cry”.

The Doctor stood on the observation deck, looking out at the stars as Elise sat on the floor in front of him. Her face was practically pressed up against the glass as she looked at all the stars. The Doctor could tell her stories and adventures of each one, but the two were enjoying the quiet moment.

Amy came up to them, holding Liz’s mask. “From Her Majesty. She says there will be no more secrets on Starship UK”.

“Amy, you could have killed everyone on this ship”.

“You could have killed a Star Whale”.

“And you saved it. I know, I know”.

“Amazing though, don’t you think? The Star Whale. All that pain and misery and loneliness, and it just made it kind”.

“But you couldn’t have known how it would react”.

“You couldn’t. But I’ve seen it before. Very old and very kind, and the very, very last. Sound a bit familiar?”

The two of them hugged. Elise wrapped her arms around their legs and they laughed.

“Hey”, Amy said.

“What?” the Doctor asked.

“Gotcha”.

The Doctor laughed. “Gotcha”.

They made their way back to the TARDIS and Elise yawned.

“Oh, looks like it’s this one’s bedtime”, Amy teased.

The Doctor picked Elise up and set her on his shoulders.

“Shouldn’t we say goodbye? Won’t they wonder where we went?” Amy asked.

“For the rest of their lives. Oh, the songs they’ll write. Never mind them. Big day tomorrow”.

“Sorry, what?”

“Well, it’s always a big day tomorrow. We’ve got a time machine. I skip the little ones”.

“You know what I said about getting back for tomorrow morning? Have you ever run away from something because you were scared, or not ready, or just, just because you could?”

“Once, a long time ago”.

“What happened?”

“Hello!”

“Right. Doctor, there’s something I haven’t told you. No, hang on. Is that a phone ringing?”

The phone connected to the TARDIS console was ringing. The three of them entered the TARDIS and the Doctor set Elise down on the jump seat.

She curled up and closed her eyes.

“People phone you?” Amy asked.

“Well, it’s a phone box. Would you mind?” the Doctor asked her.

“Hello? Sorry, who? No, seriously, who? Says he’s the Prime Minister. First the Queen, now the Prime Minister. Get about, don’t you?”

“Which Prime Minister?”

“Er, which Prime Minister? The British one”.

“Which British one?”

“Which British one? Winston Churchill for you”.

Amy handed the phone over to him.

“Oh! Hello, dear. What’s up? Don’t worry about a thing, Prime Minister. We’re on our way”. The Doctor pulled a lever and the TARDIS took off.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a repost. I accidentally posted the wrong chapter yesterday. Sorry about that.

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS to find several men pointing guns at him. 

They stepped aside and Winston Churchill stepped forward. 

Amy and Elise hesitantly stepped out of the TARDIS. 

“Amy, Elise? Winston Churchill”, the Doctor introduced. Elise hid behind the Doctor’s legs and grabbed onto one of his hands.

“Doctor. Is it you?” Churchill asked. 

“Oh, Winston, my old friend”. 

Churchill held out his hand.

The Doctor laughed. “Ah, every time”.

“What’s he after?” Amy asked.

“TARDIS, of course”, the Doctor told her.

“Think of what I could achieve with your remarkable machine, Doctor. The lives that could be saved”, Churchill said. 

“Ah, doesn’t work like that”. 

“Must I take it by force?” 

“I’d like to see you try”. 

“At ease”. 

The soldiers lowered their guns. 

“You rang?” the Doctor asked. He picked Elise up and set her on his shoulders. He was working on a better way to carry her, but this would have to do for now. 

They followed Churchill as he explained why they were there. 

“So you’ve changed your face again”, Churchill said, “And you’ve got a little one now”. 

“Um, yeah. Had a bit of work done”, the Doctor told him. 

“Got it, got it, got it. Cabinet War Rooms, right?” Amy asked. 

“Yep. Top secret heart of the War Office, right under London”. 

“You’re late, by the way”, Churchill told the Doctor. 

A woman came to up them and handed Churchill a clipboard. Churchill handed his walking stick to the Doctor. 

“Requisitions, sir”, she said.

“Excellent”.

“Late?” the Doctor asked. 

“I rang you a month ago”. 

“Really? Sorry, sorry. It’s a Type Forty TARDIS, it's…I’m just running her in”. 

Type Forty TARDIS? Is that why she made a wheezing sound while flying? 

“Something the matter, Breen?” Churchill asked the woman, “You look a little down in the dumps”. 

“No, sir. Fine, sir”, Breen told him. 

“Action this day, Breen. Action this day”.

“Yes, sir”. 

A man walked up as Breen walked away. “Excuse me, sir. Got another formation coming in, Prime Minister. Stukas, by the look of them”. 

“We shall go up top then, Group Captain. We’ll give them what for. Coming, Doctor?” Churchill asked.

“Why?” 

He took his walking stick back. “I have something to show you”. 

The four of them got into an elevator and it started rising. 

“We stand at a crossroads, Doctor, quite alone, with our backs to the wall. Invasion is expected daily. So I will grasp with both hands anything that will give us an advantage over the Nazi menace”, Churchill said. 

“Such as?” the Doctor asked. 

“Follow me”.

They stepped out onto the roof. 

Churchill gestured to a man surrounded by sandbags with binoculars in his hands. “Doctor, this is Professor Edwin Bracewell. Head of our Ironsides Project”.

The Doctor threw up a V for Victory sign. 

“How do you do?” Bracewell said. 

A bomb landed nearby and Elise screamed. 

The Doctor pulled down off his shoulders and held her to his chest. He rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her. 

“Oh, Doctor. Doctor, it's…” Amy said, looking at all the barrage balloons. 

“History”. 

“Ready, Bracewell?” Churchill asked. 

“Aye aye, sir. On my order, fire!”

A bolt of energy shot out from some sandbags.

“What was that?” Amy asked.

“That wasn’t human. That was never human technology. That sounded like…Show me. Show me. Show me what that was!” the Doctor said, handing Elise off to Amy.

She held the little girl on her hip as the Doctor climbed a ladder. 

“Advance”, Bracewell said. 

“Our new secret weapon. Ha!” Churchill told him. 

A Dalek came rolling forward.

Elise saw the Dalek and immediately started screaming again. 

Amy tried to comfort her, but the little girl was shaking in her arms. 

“What do you think? Quite something, eh?” Churchill asked. 

“What are you doing here?” the Doctor asked the Dalek. 

“I am your soldier”. 

“What?” 

“I am your soldier”.

“Stop this. Stop now. Now, you know who I am. You always know”.

“Your identity is unknown”.

“Perhaps I can clarify things here. This is one of my Ironsides”, Bracewell said. 

“Your what?” the Doctor asked. 

“You will help the Allied cause in any way that you can?” Bracewell asked the Dalek. 

“Yes”.

“Until the Germans have been utterly smashed”. 

“Yes”. 

“And what is your ultimate aim?” 

“To win the war”.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They went back to Churchill’s office after stopping off at the TARDIS. 

Elise was now wrapped in a blanket and had a stuffed bear in her arms. 

Amy held her as the Doctor argued with Churchill. 

“They’re Daleks. They’re called Daleks”, the Doctor told him.

“They are Bracewell’s Ironsides, Doctor. Look. Blueprints, statistics, field tests, photographs. He invented them”. 

“Invented them? Oh, no, no, no”.

“Yes. He approached one of our brass hats a few months ago. Fellow’s a genius”. 

“A Scottish genius, too. Maybe you should listen to…” Amy said. 

The Doctor hushed her sharply and Amy backed off. “He didn’t invent them. They’re alien”, the Doctor told Churchill. 

“Alien?” 

One of the Daleks rolled past the door way. 

Elise whined and hid her face in Amy’s neck. 

“And totally hostile”, the Doctor said. 

“Precisely. They will win me the war”, Churchill argued. Churchill was called to one of the war rooms and they followed. 

“Why won’t you listen to me? Why did you call me in if you won’t listen to me?” the Doctor asked. 

“When I rang you a month ago, I must admit I had my doubts. The Ironsides seemed too good to be true”. 

“Yes. Right. So destroy them. Exterminate them”. 

“But imagine what I could do with a hundred. A thousand”. 

“I am imagining”. 

A Dalek rolled past them and Elise once again hid her face in Amy’s neck. 

“Amy, tell him”, the Doctor told her. 

“Tell him what?” 

“About the Daleks”. 

“What would I know about the Daleks?” 

“Everything. They invaded your world, remember? Planets in the sky. You don’t forget that. Amy, tell me you remember the Daleks”.

“No, sorry”. 

“That’s not possible”. 

Amy, the Doctor, and Elise entered the map room and Amy set Elise on the floor. Her arms were getting tired of carrying the Timelord child. Now she knew why the Doctor kept handing her off or putting her on his shoulders. 

“So, they’re up to something. But what is it? What are they after?” the Doctor asked. 

“Well, let’s just ask, shall we?” Amy said walking over to one.

“Amy. Amelia!”

Amy tapped on the Dalek’s shell and its eyestalk turned towards her. 

“A…A…” Elise squeaked.

“Can I be of assistance?” the Dalek asked. 

“Oh. Yes, yes. See, my friend reckons you’re dangerous. That you’re an alien. Is it true?” Amy asked it. 

“I am your soldier”. 

“Yeah. Got that bit. Love a squaddie. What else, though?” 

“Please excuse me. I have duties to perform”. 

The Dalek rolled away and Elise ran over to Amy. 

“Hey, hey. I’m okay”, Amy said, petting her hair. 

The Doctor walked over to Churchill and grabbed the cigar out of his mouth. “Winston. Winston, please”.

“We are waging total war, Doctor. Day after day the Luftwaffe pound this great city like an iron fist”.

“Wait till the Daleks get started”. 

“Men, women and children slaughtered. Families torn apart. Wren’s churches in flame”. 

“Yeah. Try the Earth in flames”. The Doctor said the last statement quietly, not wanting to upset Elise. 

“I weep for my country. I weep for my empire. It is breaking my heart”. 

“You’re resisting, Winston. The whole world knows you’re resisting. You’re a beacon of hope”. 

“But for how long? Millions of innocent lives will be saved if I use these Ironsides now”. 

“Can I be of assistance?” the Dalek asked, interrupting the conversation. 

“Shut it”, the Doctor snapped at it. He turned back to Churchill. “Listen to me. Just listen. The Daleks have no conscience, no mercy, no pity. They are my oldest and deadliest enemy. You cannot trust them”.

“If Hitler invaded hell, I would give a favorable reference to the Devil. These machines are our salvation”. 

A siren went off. 

“Oh, the All Clear. We are safe, for now”, Churchill said, leaving with the Dalek following.

Amy and Elise came over to the Doctor. 

“Doctor, it’s the All Clear. You okay?” Amy asked him. 

“What does hate look like, Amy?” 

“Hate?” 

“It looks like a Dalek. And I’m going to prove it”. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Amy and Elise followed the Doctor to Bracewell’s laboratory. 

“All right, Prof. Now, the PM’s been filling me in. Amazing things, these Ironsides of yours. Amazing. You must be very proud of them”, the Doctor said. 

“Just doing my bit”, Bracewell told him. 

“Not bad for a Paisley boy”, Amy commented. 

“Yes, I thought I detected a familiar cadence, my dear”.

“How did you do it? Come up with the idea?” the Doctor asked him.

“How does the muse of invention come to anyone?” 

“But you get a lot of these clever notions, do you?” 

“Well, ideas just seem to teem from my head. Wonderful things, like. Let me show you. Some musings on the potential of hyper-sonic flight. Gravity bubbles that can sustain life outside of the terrestrial atmosphere. Came to me in the bath”. 

As Bracewell held up the files, the Doctor looked them over before tossing them aside. “And are these your ideas or theirs?” he asked. 

“Oh no, no, no. These robots are entirely under my control, Doctor”. 

A Dalek rolled up to them with a cup of tea balanced on a tray. 

Bracewell took the tea. “They are the perfect servant, and the perfect warrior”. “I don’t know what you’re up to, Professor, but whatever they’ve promised, you cannot trust them. Call them what you like, the Daleks are death”. 

“Yes, Doctor. Death to our enemies. Death to the forces of darkness, and death to the Third Reich”, Churchill said entering the room.

“Yes, Winston, and death to everyone else too”, the Doctor said. 

“Would you care for some tea?” the Dalek asked.

The Doctor knocked the tray from his sucker and snapped. “Stop this!” 

Amy pushed Elise behind her as the Doctor started questioning the Dalek.

“What are you doing here? What do you want?”

“We seek only to help you”.

“To do what?” 

“To win the war”.

“Really? Which war?”

“I do not understand”.

“This war, against the Nazis, or your war? The war against the rest of the Universe? The war against all life forms that are not Dalek?” 

“I do not understand. I am your soldier”. 

“Oh, yeah? Okay. Okay, soldier, defend yourself”. The Doctor picked up a large spanner and started to hit the Dalek. 

Amy picked Elise up and carried her outside the room as she started screaming. 

“Doctor, what the devil?!” Churchill yelled. 

“You do not require tea?” the Dalek asked him. 

“Stop him! Prime Minister, please!” Bracewell begged as the Doctor continued to hit the Dalek.

“Doctor, what the devil? Please, these machines are precious”, Churchill told him. 

“Come on. Fight back. You want to, don’t you? You know you do”.

“I must protest!” Bracewell said. 

“What are you waiting for? Look, you hate me. You want to kill me. Well, go on. Kill me. Kill me!” the Doctor yelled. 

“Please desist from striking me. I am your soldier”, the Dalek said. 

“You are my enemy! And I am yours. You are everything I despise. The worst thing in all creation. I’ve defeated you time and time again. I’ve defeated you. I sent you back into the Void. I saved the whole of reality from you. I am the Doctor. And you are the Daleks!” He kicked the Dalek and it went rolling backwards. 

“Correct. Review testimony”, the Dalek said. 

A recording of the Doctor played. “ _I am the Doctor. And you are the Daleks_ ”. 

“Testimony. What are you talking about, testimony?” the Doctor asked. 

“Transmitting testimony now”. 

“Transmit what, where?”

“Testimony accepted”.

“Get back, all of you”, the Doctor told them. 

“Marines! Marines, get in here!” Churchill yelled. 

Amy rushed into the room holding Elise and ran for the Doctor. 

The Marines who followed were exterminated. 

“Stop it, stop it, please. What are you doing? You are my Ironsides”, Bracewell said. 

“We are the Daleks”.

“But I created you”. 

“No”. The Dalek blasted off Bracewell’s hand. “We created you. Victory. Victory. Victory”. The Daleks teleported and they were gone.

“What just happened, Doctor?” Amy asked.

“I wanted to know what they wanted. What their plan was. I was their plan”. He ran out of the room.

“Hey!” Amy called. She groaned and followed after him, the tiny Timelord still in her arms.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elise meets River in the next chapter and I am so ready!

They ran back to where the Doctor had parked the TARDIS. He unlocked the door. “Testimony accepted. That’s what they said. My testimony”.

“Don’t beat yourself up because you were right. So, what do we do? Is this what we do now? Chase after them?” Amy asked.

“This is what I do. Yeah, and it’s dangerous, so you wait here”.

“What, so you mean I’ve got to stay safe down here in the middle of the London Blitz?”

“Safe as it gets around me”. The Doctor stepped forward and brushed some hair behind Elise’s ear. Her big blue eyes stared at him as he kissed her forehead. “Be a good girl. Do everything Amy tells you. I’ll be back before you know it”, he told her. He entered the TARDIS and a second later, it disappeared.

“What’s he expect us to do now?” Amy asked.

“KBO, of course”, Churchill told her.

“What?”

“Keep buggering on”.

“Prime Minister”, Breen said, running into the filing room.

“Yes?”

“Signal from RDF, sir. Unidentified object. Hanging in the sky, Captain Childers says. We can’t get a proper fix, though. It’s too far up”.

“What do you think, Miss Pond? The Doctor’s in trouble and now we know where he is”.

“Yeah. Because he’ll be on that ship, won’t he. Right in the middle of everything”, Amy said.

“Exactly”.

They rushed back to the war room. As they were standing there, all the lights in London started to come on.

“The generators won’t switch off. The lights are on all across London, Prime Minister”, one of the generals told them.

“Has to be them. It has to be the Daleks”, Amy said.

“The Germans can see every inch of the city. We’re sitting ducks. Get those lights out before the Germans get here”, Churchill ordered, “Thousands will die if we don’t get those lights out now”.

“German bombers sighted over the Channel, sir. ETA ten minutes, sir”, Breen told them.

“Here they come. Get a message to Mister Attlee. War Cabinet meeting at oh three hundred hours. If we’re all still here”, Churchill said.

“We can’t just sit here. We’ve got to take the fight to the Daleks”, Amy told him.

“How? None of our weapons are a match for theirs”.

“Oh God, we must have something!”

Elise looked around the war room as her little brain started to formulate a plan. Then it hit her. She tugged on Amy’s jacket and pointed to the hallway.

“What? Elise, what is it?” Amy asked her before the small Timelord took off running. “Elise! Where are you going? Your father is going to be very angry with you!” Amy called after her.

Elise ran into Bracewell’s lab and found him sitting at his desk with a gun in his hand.

“Bracewell, put the gun down”, Churchill told him.

“My life is a lie, and I choose to end it”.

“In your own time, Paisley boy, because right now we need your help”, Amy told him.

“But those creatures, my Ironsides, they made me? I can remember things. So many things. The last war. The squalor and the mud and the awful, awful misery of it all. What am I? What am I?”

“What you are, sir, is either on our side or theirs. Now, I don’t give a damn if you’re a machine, Bracewell. Are you a man?” Churchill asked.

“Listen to me. I understand. Really, I do”, Amy told him. She took the gun from his hand. “Look, there is a spaceship up there lighting up London like a Christmas tree. Thousands of people will die tonight if we don’t stop it, and you are the only one who can help take it down”.

“I am?”

Elise pointed to the table.

Amy lifted her and she started going through the papers. She finally found it and handed it to Amy.

Amy looked down and smiled. “Oh! You brilliant girl!” Amy said kissing her head. She turned to Bracewell and handed him the file. “Can you make this work?”

“We could send something up there, you say?” Churchill asked.

“Yes, well, with a gravity bubble, yes, but. Theoretically it’s possible that we could actually send something into space”, Bracewell said.

“Bracewell, it’s time to think big”.

Bracewell turned to the small Timelord. “You’re quite clever”, he told her.

Elise just gave him a smirk.

They went back to the war room while Bracewell put their plan into motion. He came into the room, wheeling a small screen on a chair. He set it on the table.

“At last. Are they ready?” Churchill asked.

“I hope so. But in the meantime, this will pick up Dalek transmissions”, he told him.

A picture popped up of the Doctor and a white Dalek.

“We are the paradigm of a new Dalek race”.

“It’s him. It’s the Doctor”, Amy said.

“Scientist, Strategist, Drone, Eternal, and the Supreme”.

“Which would be you, I’m guessing. Well, you know, nice paint job. I’d be feeling pretty swish if I looked like you. Pretty supreme”, the Doctor said.

“He’s got company. New company. You’ve got to hurry up”, Amy told Bracewell.

A phone rang and he answered it. “Yes? Right. Right, thanks. Ready when you are, Prime Minister”.

“Splendid”.

“Spaceship’s exact coordinates located”.

“Go to it, Group Captain. Go to it”.

“Broadsword to Danny Boy. Broadsword to Danny Boy. Scramble. Scramble. Scramble”, the Group Captain said.

“Danny Boy to the Doctor. Danny Boy to the Doctor. Are you receiving me? Over”.

“Oh ho! Winston, you beauty”, the Doctor cheered.

“Danny Boy to the Doctor. Come in. Over”.

“Loud and clear, Danny Boy. Big dish, side of the ship. Blow it up. Over”.

“Exterminate the Doctor!” the Supreme Dalek ordered.

“You heard him, Group Captain. Target that dish. Send in all we’ve got”, Churchill said.

“Broadsword to Danny Boy. Target the dish and stop that signal. Over”.

“Understood, sir. Over. You can count on us. Over. Okay, chaps, let’s put London back under cover of darkness. Tally ho! Cover my back, going in close. Pull out, pull out. We’ve lost Jubilee, sir. Over”.

“Beam still active, sir”, the Group Captain told them.

“Send them in again”, Churchill said.

“Flintlock’s down sir, and the dish seems to be protected. Over. Danny Boy to the Doctor. Only me left now. Anything you can do, sir? Over”.

“The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. I can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long. Over”.

“Good show, Doctor. Go to it. Over. I’m going in. Wish me luck. Over”.

There was the sound of a loud explosion.

“Direct hit, sir!” the Group Captain told them.

Everyone cheered.

“Danny Boy to the Doctor. Going in for another attack”.

“The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Destroy this ship. Over”.

“What about you, Doctor?”

“I’ll be okay”. After a few minutes, the Doctor came back over the radio. “The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Withdraw”.

“Say again, sir. Over”.

“Withdraw. Return to Earth. Over and out”.

“But sir”.

“There’s no time. You have to return to Earth now. Over”. Not even a second later, the Doctor came running into the room. He punched Bracewell and Bracewell fell to the ground.

“Doctor!” Amy gasped.

“Ow. Sorry, Professor, you’re a bomb. An inconceivably massive Dalek bomb”.

“What?” Bracewell asked.

“There’s an Oblivion Continuum inside you. A captured wormhole that provides perpetual power. Detonate that, and the Earth will bleed through into another dimension. Now keep down”. The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and used it to open up Bracewell’s chest.

There was a circle divided into five parts and one of the sections turned yellow.

“Well?” Amy asked the Doctor.

“I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know. Never seen one up close before”.

“So what, they’ve wired him up to detonate?”

“Oh no, not wired him up. He is a bomb. Walking, talking, pow, exploding, the moment that flashes red”.

“There’s a blue wire or something you have to cut, isn’t there? There’s always a blue wire. Or a red one”.

“You’re not helping”.

“It’s incredible. He talked to us about his memories. The Great War”, Churchill said.

“Someone else’s stolen thoughts, implanted in a positronic brain. Tell me about it. Bracewell. Tell me about your life”, the Doctor told him.

“Doctor, I really don’t think this is the time”, Bracewell said.

“Tell me, and prove you’re human. Tell me everything”.

The section turned red and the next section turned yellow.

“My family ran the Post Office. It’s a little place just near the abbey, just by the ash trees. There used to be eight trees but there was a storm”. “And your parents? Come on, tell me”.

“Good people. Kind people. They died. Scarlet fever”.

“What was that like? How did it feel? How did it make you feel, Edwin? Tell me. Tell me now”.

“It hurt. It hurt, Doctor, it hurt so badly. It was like a wound. I thought it was worse than a wound. Like I’d been emptied out. There was nothing left”.

The second section turned red.

“Good. Remember it now, Edwin. The ash trees by the Post Office and your mum and dad, and losing them, and men in the trenches you saw die. Remember it. Feel it. You feel it because you’re human. You’re not like them. You’re not like the Daleks”.

“It hurts, Doctor. It hurts so much”.

“Good. Good, good, brilliant. Embrace it. That means you’re alive. They cannot explode that bomb because you’re a human being. You are flesh and blood. They cannot explode that bomb. Believe it. You are Professor Edwin Bracewell, and you, my friend, are a human being”.

The next section turned red. They were down to one section now.

Amy came and knelt by his side.

“It’s not working. I can’t stop it”, the Doctor said.

“Hey, Paisley. Ever fancied someone you know you shouldn’t?” Amy asked Bracewell.

“What?”

“It hurts, doesn’t it? But kind of a good hurt”.

“I really shouldn’t talk about her”.

“Oh. There’s a her”.

“What was her name?” the Doctor asked him.

“Dorabella”. “Dorabella? It’s a lovely name. It’s a beautiful name”.

“What was she like, Edwin?” Amy asked.

“Oh, such a smile. And her eyes. Her eyes were so blue. Almost violet, like the last touch of sunset on the edge of the world. Dorabella”.

All the sections returned to their normal blue color.

“Welcome to the human race”, the Doctor told Bracewell. The Doctor pointed to Churchill. “You’re brilliant”. He turned to Bracewell next. “You’re brilliant”. Finally, he looked at Amy. “And you, I…” He grasped the back of her head and pulled her forward to kiss her forehead. He jumped up and started to run back to the TARIDS. “Now. Got to stop them. Stop the Daleks”.

“Wait, Doctor. Wait, wait. It’s too late. Gone. They’ve gone”, Bracewell told him.

“No. No! They can’t. They can’t have got away from me again!”

“No, I can feel it. My mind is clear. The Daleks have gone”.

“Doctor, it’s okay. You did it. You stopped the bomb”, Amy told him, “Doctor?”

“I had a choice. And they knew I’d choose the Earth. The Daleks have won. They beat me. They’ve won”.

“But you saved the Earth. Not too shabby, is it? Is it?”

Elise walked up to him and wrapped her small hand around his. He smiled down at her and said, “No, it’s not too shabby”. The Timelord never failed to instill hope in him.

“It’s a brilliant achievement, my dear friend. Here, have a cigar”, Churchill told him.

“No”.

It was morning in London, but Elise couldn’t be more tired. She was practically asleep in the Doctor’s arms.

He entered the war room as Amy asked, “Where’s the Doctor?”

“Tying up loose ends. I’ve taken out all the alien tech Bracewell put in”. He handed the sleepy Timelord to Amy and picked up a cup a tea.

“Won’t you reconsider, Doctor? Those Spitfires would win me the war in twenty hours”, Churchill said.

“Exactly”.

“But why not? Why can’t we put an end to all this misery?”

“Oh, it doesn’t work like that, Winston, and it’s going to be tough. There are terrible days to come. The darkest days. But you can do it. You know you can”.

“Stay with us, and help us win through. The world needs you”.

“The world doesn’t need me”.

“No?”

“The world’s got Winston Spencer Churchill!”

“It’s been a pleasure, Doctor, as always”.

“Too right”.

“Goodbye, Doctor”.

“Oh, shall we say adieu?”

The two of them hugged.

“Indeed. Goodbye, Miss Pond”.

“It’s, it’s been amazing, meeting you”.

“I’m sure it has”.

Amy kissed Churchill on the cheek. Churchill looked at the sleeping girl in Amy’s arms. “You must bring her back when she’s older”.

“I will do that”, the Doctor told him.

Churchill nodded and started to walk off.

“Oi, Churchill. TARDIS key. The one you just took from the Doctor”, Amy told him.

The Doctor patted his pockets as Churchill laughed.

“Oh, she’s good, Doctor. As sharp as a pin. Almost as sharp as me”. Churchill handed the key to Amy. “K B O”.

Amy smiled as she handed the key back to the Doctor.

The Doctor took Elise back from Amy and carried her back to the TARDIS.

“What about Bracewell?” Amy asked.

“Let me put this one to bed. I’ll be right back”, the Doctor told her. He entered the TARDIS and made his way to Elise’s room. He placed her in her bed and covered her up, before kissing her forehead. “My clever girl”, he whispered.

Amy had told him that the spitfires had been her idea.

Elise was smart and clever for her age.

He couldn’t wait to teach her all he knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have already seen this chapter because I messed up. Sorry about that.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing this chapter because I got to plant clues for further stories in this series. This is is why I love River!

The Doctor, Elise, and Amy were walking through a museum and the Doctor kept commenting on the exhibits. “Wrong. Wrong. Bit right, mostly wrong. I love museums!”

“Yeah, great. Can we go to a planet now? Big space ship? Churchill’s bunker? You promised me a planet next”, Amy told him.

“Amy, this isn’t any old asteroid. It’s the Delerium Archive, the final resting place of the headless monks. The biggest museum ever. Besides, it’s good for Elise. Very educational”.

“You’ve got a time machine. What do you need museums for? And how is she supposed to learn when you’re not explaining anything to her?”

Sometimes it felt like Amy and the Doctor were two parents with vastly different parenting styles. Elise still didn’t know how to use her sonic screwdriver.

The Doctor went back to commenting on the exhibits. “Wrong. Very wrong. Ooo, one of mine. Also one of mine”.

“Oh, I see. It’s how you keep score”.

The Doctor stopped at a glass case with a box in it.

“Oh great, an old box”, Amy said.

The Doctor picked Elise up and set her on his hip as he explained what it was. “It’s from one of the old starliners. A Home Box”.

“What’s a Home Box?”

“Like a black box on a plane, except it homes. Anything happens to the ship, the Home Box flies home with all the flight data”.

“So?”

“The writing, the graffiti. Old High Gallifreyan. The lost language of the Time Lords. There were days, there were many days, these words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple gods”.

“What does it say?”

“Hello, sweetie”. The Doctor set Elise down and smashed the glass, grabbing the home box.

Alarms went off as the three ran for the TARDIS.

The Doctor plugged the box into the console and pulled the monitor around.

“Why are we doing this?” Amy asked.

“Because someone on a spaceship twelve thousand years ago is trying to attract my attention. Let’s see if we can get the security playback working”, the Doctor told her.

A video popped up and a woman with curly hair stood there. She winked at the security camera as a man walked up.

“The party’s over, Doctor Song yet still you’re on board”, the man said.

“Sorry, Alistair. I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you all know what’s down there? Any of you? Because I’ll tell you something. This ship won’t reach its destination”.

“Wait till she runs. Don’t make it look like an execution”.

“Triple seven five slash three four nine by ten. Zero twelve slash acorn. Oh, and I could do with an air corridor”.

“What was that? What did she say?” Amy asked.

“Coordinates”, the Doctor said, typing them in.

“Like I said on the dance floor, you might want to find something to hang on to”, Doctor Song said.

The TARDIS made her usual wheezing noise and the Doctor ran to the doors. He threw them open just in time for the woman to land on top of him.

“Doctor?” Amy asked.

“River?” the Doctor asked the woman.

They stood up.

“Follow that ship”, River told him.

The two of them ran to the console.

“Elise!” River exclaimed with a smile on her face. River picked her up and set her on her hip as she pressed buttons and flipped levers with one hand.

Elise wondered who this woman was and why she was holding her, but she liked it. Something about River felt familiar.

“They’ve gone into warp drive. We’re losing them. Stay close”, River told the Doctor.

“I’m trying”.

“Use the stabilizers”.

“There aren’t any stabilizers!”

“The blue switches”.

“Oh, the blue ones don’t do anything, they’re just…blue”.

“Yes, they’re blue. Look, they’re the blue stabilizers”. She reached over and pressed them and the TARDIS stopped shaking. “See?” River said.

“Yeah. Well, it’s just boring now, isn’t it? They’re boring-ers. They’re blue boring-ers”, the Doctor said pressing them repeatedly.

River rolled her eyes. “Lord help us if she gets your attitude”.

“Oh no, you are not turning my daughter against me”.

“Your daughter? Don’t listen to him, sweetie”.

Elise liked this River woman. She set her head on River’s shoulder and grabbed a hold of her blonde hair. River smiled and kissed Elise’s forehead.

“Doctor, how come she can fly the TARDIS?” Amy asked.

The Doctor scoffed. “You call that flying the TARDIS? Ha!”

River set Elise down and started typing on the keyboard wired into the console. “Okay. I’ve mapped the probability vectors, done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination, and parked us right alongside”.

“Parked us? We haven’t landed”.

“Of course we’ve landed. I just landed her”.

“But, it didn’t make the noise”.

“What noise?”

“You know, the…” The Doctor imitated the TARDIS’ signature wheezing sound and River looked at him.

“It’s not supposed to make that noise. You leave the brakes on”.

Elise giggled.

“Honestly, even Elise is a better driver than you in the future. God knows how”, River told him, “Of course, she leaves the brakes on too”.

“Yeah, well, it’s a brilliant noise. I love that noise and when do I teach her to drive the TARDIS?”

“Who says you’re the one who teaches her?”

“Come along, Pond, Elise. Let’s have a look”.

“No, wait. Environment checks”.

“Oh yes, sorry. Quite right. Environment checks”.

The Doctor ran to the TARDIS door and looked out. “Nice out”.

River read off the monitor. “We’re somewhere in the Garn Belt. There’s an atmosphere. Early indications suggest that…”

“We’re on Alfava Metraxis, the seventh planet of the Dundra System. Oxygen rich atmosphere, all toxins in the soft band, eleven hour day and chances of rain later”, the Doctor finished.

“He thinks he’s so hot when he does that”, River told Amy.

“How come you can fly the TARDIS?”

“Oh, I had lessons from the very best”.

The Doctor joined them on the platform. “Well, yeah”.

“It’s a shame you were busy that day. Right then, why did they land here?”

“They didn’t land”.

“Sorry?”

“You should’ve checked the Home Box. It crashed”, the Doctor said following her to the door. River left the TARDIS and the Doctor ran back up to the console.

Surely they weren’t just going to leave River there by herself?

Amy joined him on the platform. “Explain! Who is that and how did she do that museum thing?”

“It’s a long story and I don’t know most of it. Off we go”.

“What are you doing?”

“Leaving. She’s got where she wants to go, let’s go where we want to go”.

“Are you basically running away?”

“Yep”.

“Why?”

“Because she’s the future. Mine and Elise’s future”.

Elise was confused. How was River her future? She’d never seen River before.

“Can you run away from that?” Amy asked him.

“I can run away from anything I like. Time is not the boss of me”.

“Hang on, is that a planet out there?”

“Yes, of course it’s a planet”.

“You promised me a planet. Five minutes?”

The Doctor sighed and relented. “Okay, five minutes”.

“Yes!”

“But that’s all, because I’m telling you now, that woman is not dragging me into anything!”

Elise moved to follow Amy, but the Doctor grabbed her arm. “Just a moment”, he said. He left the platform and came back with a harness. He set Elise in the harness and then hoisted her onto his back.

The harness was exactly like a baby carrier, except she could move her arms and legs.

He fastened the straps. “There we go. Safe and sound”.

Her little arms wrapped around his neck and played with his bowtie.

The two of them left the TARDIS.

Amy turned around and groaned.

“What?” the Doctor asked.

“You can’t just carry her everywhere on your back like a baby koala”.

“Do you have a better idea?”

“She’s going to get spoiled, Doctor. They need to learn to be independent”.

“How else am I supposed to keep up with her? Amy, without me she has nothing. I can’t lose her”.

Amy sighed. “Fine”.

“What caused it to crash? Not me”, River said looking at the smoldering remains of the spaceship.

“Nah, the airlock would’ve sealed seconds after you blew it. According to the Home Box, the warp engines had a phase shift. No survivors”, the Doctor told her.

“A phase shift would have to be sabotage. I did warn them”.

“About what?”

“Well, at least the building was empty. Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries”.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Amy asked the Doctor.

“Amy Pond, Professor River Song”.

River turned to them and gasped. “Ah, I’m going to be a Professor someday, am I? How exciting! Spoilers!”

“Yeah, but who is she and how did she do that?” Amy asked, “She just left you a note in a museum”.

“Two things always guaranteed to show up in a museum. The Home Box of category four starliner and sooner or later, him. It’s how he keeps score”, River told her.

“I know”.

“It’s hilarious, isn’t it?”

The Doctor let out a fake chuckle and walked up to the two women. “I’m nobody’s taxi service. I’m not going to be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a space ship”, the Doctor told River.

“And you are so wrong”.

The Doctor started to walk off when River added, “There’s one survivor. There’s a thing in the belly of that ship that can’t ever die. Now he’s listening”. River held her communicator up to her ear as Amy joined the Doctor and Elise. “You lot in orbit yet? Yeah, I saw it land. I’m at the crash site. Try and home in on my signal”. River turned back to them.

“Doctor, can you sonic me? I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon”.

The Doctor pointed his screwdriver at her and River curtseyed in thanks.

“Ooo, Doctor, you soniced her”, Amy teased.

“We have a minute. Shall we?” River asked. She pulled out a notebook that looked like the TARDIS and flipped through it. “Where are we up to? Have we done the Bone Meadows?”

“What’s the book?” Amy asked.

“Stay away from it”, the Doctor told her.

“What is it though?”

“Her diary”.

“Our diary”, River corrected him.

“Her past, my future. Time travel. We keep meeting in the wrong order”.

“Oh honey, we’re not the only ones”. River winked at Elise, who looked at her with a confused frown.

Four dust tornadoes appeared and turned into four soldiers.

“You promised me an army, Doctor Song”, the leader said.

“No, I promised you the equivalent of an army. This is the Doctor and his daughter Elise. You’ll have to forgive her though, she’s a bit young. Hasn’t grown into herself yet”, River told him.

“Father Octavian, Sir”.

The Doctor saluted him.

“Bishop, second class. Twenty clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly. Doctor Song was helping us with a covert investigation. Has Doctor Song explained what we’re dealing with?”

“Doctor, what do you know of the Weeping Angels?” River asked him.

His head snapped to the side.

This was bad. Very bad.


	13. Chapter 13

Night fell as the clerics finished setting up their camp.

“The Angel, as far as we know, is still trapped in the ship. Our mission is to get inside and neutralize it. We can’t get through up top, we’d be too close to the drives. According to this, behind the cliff face there’s a network of catacombs leading right up to the temple. We can blow through the base of the cliffs, get into the entrance chamber, then make our way up”, Octavian told them.

“Oh, good”, the Doctor said.

“Good, sir?”

“Catacombs. Probably dark ones. Dark catacombs. Great”. The Doctor’s tone was dripping with sarcasm.

“Technically, I think it’s called a maze of the dead”.

“You can stop any time you like”.

“Father Octavian?” a cleric called.

“Excuse me, sir”. Father Octavian walked off, leaving the Doctor, Amy, and Elise.

“You’re letting people call you sir. You never do that. So, whatever a Weeping Angel is, it’s really bad, yeah?” Amy asked the Doctor.

“Now that’s interesting. You’re still here. Which part of wait in the TARDIS till I tell you it’s safe was so confusing?”

“Ooo, you are all Mister Grumpy Face today. And how come Elise gets to be here and I don’t?”

“Because she’s attached to me, that’s why. A Weeping Angel, Amy, is the deadliest, most powerful, most malevolent life form evolution has ever produced, and right now one of them is trapped inside that wreckage and I’m supposed to climb in after it with a screwdriver and a torch, and assuming I survive the radiation long enough and assuming the whole ship doesn’t explode in my face, do something incredibly clever which I haven’t actually thought of yet. That’s my day. That’s what I’m up to. Any questions?”

“Is River Song your wife? Because she’s someone from your future, and the way she talks to you, I’ve never seen anyone do that. She’s kind of like, you know, heel, boy. And she’s good with Elise and she knows things about her. She’s Mrs. Doctor from the future, isn’t she? Is she going to be your wife one day?”

“Yes, you’re right. I am definitely Mister Grumpy Face today”.

“Doctor! Doctor?” River called from the drop ship. She was now dressed in camo like the rest of the clerics.

“Oops. Her indoors”, Amy teased.

“Father Octavian!”

“Why do they call him Father?”

“He’s their Bishop, they’re his Clerics. It’s the fifty first Century. The Church has moved on”, the Doctor told her.

They entered the drop ship and there was a video of a Weeping Angel with its back to them.

“What do you think?” River asked, “It’s from the security cameras in the Byzantium vault. I ripped it when I was on board. Sorry about the quality. It’s four seconds. I’ve put it on loop”.

“Yeah, it’s an Angel. Hands covering its face”.

Elise looked at the angel and covered her eyes with her hands.

River laughed and smiled at the small Timelord.

“You’ve encountered the Angels before?” Octavian asked.

“Once, on Earth, a long time ago. But those were scavengers, barely surviving”, the Doctor told him.

“But it’s just a statue”, Amy said.

“It’s a statue when you see it”, River explained.

“Where did it come from?” the Doctor asked.

“Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century. It’s been in private hands ever since. Dormant all that time”.

“There’s a difference between dormant and patient”.

“What’s that mean, it’s a statue when you see it?” Amy asked.

“The Weeping Angels can only move if they’re unseen. So legend has it”, River told her.

The Doctor corrected her. “No, it’s not legend, it’s a quantum lock. In the sight of any living creature the Angels literally cease to exist. They’re just stone. The ultimate defense mechanism”.

“What, being a stone?” Amy asked.

“Being a stone until you turn your back”. The Doctor and Elise still left the drop ship with River and Father Octavian following.

“The hyper drive would’ve split on impact. That whole ship’s going to be flooded with drive burn radiation, cracked electrons, gravity storms. Deadly to almost any living thing”, the Doctor said.

“Deadly to an Angel?” Octavian asked.

“Dinner to an Angel. The longer we leave it there, the stronger it will grow. Who built that temple? Are they still around?”

“The Aplans. Indigenous life form. They died out four hundred years ago”, River told him.

“Two hundred years later, the planet was terraformed. Currently there are six billion human colonists”, Octavian added.

“Whoo! You lot, you’re everywhere. You’re like rabbits! I’ll never get done saving you”, the Doctor said.

“Sir, if there is a clear and present danger to the local population…”

“Oh, there is. Bad as it gets. Bishop, lock and load”.

“Verger, how are we doing with those explosives? Doctor Song, with me”.

“Two minutes. Sweetie, I need you!” River called to the Doctor. He ran over to River and she handed him a book. “I found this. Definitive work on the Angels. Well, the only one. Written by a madman. It’s barely readable, but I’ve marked a few passages”.

The Doctor flipped through the pages of the book. “Not bad. Bit slow in the middle. Didn’t you hate his girlfriend? No. No, hang on. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait”. The Doctor sniffed the book.

“Doctor Song? Did you have more than one clip of the Angel?” Amy asked, popping out of the drop ship.

“No, just the four seconds”, River told her.

“This book is wrong. What’s wrong with this book? It’s wrong” the Doctor said.

“It’s so strange when you go all baby face. How early is this for you?” River asked.

“Very early”.

“So you don’t know who I am yet?”

“How do you know who I am? I don’t always look the same”.

“I’ve got pictures of all your faces. You never show up in the right order, though. I need the spotter’s guide”.

“Pictures. Why aren’t there pictures? This whole book, it’s a warning about the Weeping Angels, so why no pictures? Why not show us what to look out for?”

“There was a bit about images. What was that?”

“Yes. Hang on. That which holds the image of an angel becomes itself an angel”.

“What does that mean? An image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel”.

“Doctor! It’s in the room!” Amy screamed from the drop ship.

“Amy!”

“Doctor!”

“Are you all right? What’s happening?”

“Doctor? Doctor, it’s coming out of the television”.

“The Angel is here”.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and tried sonicing the keypad. “Don’t take your eyes off it. Keep looking. It can’t move if you’re looking”.

“What’s wrong?” River asked him.

“Deadlocked”.

“There is no deadlock”.

“Don’t blink, Amy. Don’t even blink”.

“Doctor!” Amy yelled.

The Doctor ran over to a control panel and started messing with cords.

“What are you doing?” River asked.

“Cutting the power. It’s using the screen, I’m turning the screen off. No good, it’s deadlocked the whole system”.

“There’s no deadlock”.

“There is now”.

“Help me!” Amy screamed.

“A…A…A…” Elise squeaked, wiggling around in the harness.

“Elise stop moving. I can’t concentrate”, the Doctor told her.

Elise slammed her head into his.

“Ow!” He ran back over to the door. “Can you turn it off?” he asked Amy.

“Doctor”.

“The screen. Can you turn it off?”

“I tried”.

“Try again. But don’t take your eyes off the Angel”.

“I’m not”.

“Each time it moves, it’ll move faster. Don’t even blink”.

River pulled out a mini blow torch and tried to cut through the door.

“I’m not blinking”, Amy told him, “Have you ever tried not blinking? It just keeps switching back on”.

“Yeah, it’s the Angel”.

“But it’s just a recording”.

“No, anything that takes the image of an Angel is an Angel. What are you doing?” the Doctor asked River.

“I’m trying to cut through. It’s not even warm”.

“There is no way in. It’s not physically possible”.

“Doctor, what’s it going to do to me?” Amy asked.

“Just keep looking at it. Don’t stop looking”.

“Just tell me”.

The Doctor ran and grabbed the book they were looking at earlier.

“Tell me. Tell me!” Amy yelled.

“Amy, not the eyes. Look at the Angel but don’t look at the eyes”.

“Why?”

“What is it?” River asked him.

“The eyes are not the windows of the soul. They are the doors. Beware what may enter there”.

“Doctor, what did you say?” Amy asked.

“Don’t look at the eyes!”

“No, about images. What did you say about images?”

“Whatever holds the image of an Angel, is an Angel”, River said.

The door finally opened and the Doctor and River ran in.

“I froze it. There was a sort of blip on the tape and I froze it on the blip”, Amy told them, “It wasn’t the image of an Angel any more. That was good, yeah? It was, wasn’t it? That was pretty good”.

“That was amazing”, River complimented her.

The Doctor ran towards the screen and pulled the plug out, sonicing it. “River, hug Amy”.

“Why?” Amy asked.

“Because I’m busy”.

“I’m fine”.

“You’re brilliant”, River told her.

“Thanks. Yeah, I kind of creamed it, didn’t I?”

“So it was here? That was the Angel?”

“That was a projection of the Angel. It’s reaching out, getting a good look at us. It’s no longer dormant”, the Doctor said.

There was an explosion outside.

Much like in Churchill’s bunker, Elise screamed.

The Doctor shushed her and grabbed her hand, bringing it to his mouth and kissing the back of it. He poked his head out of the drop ship.

“Doctor? We’re through”, Octavian told him.

“Okay, now it starts”. He left the drop ship and followed Octavian.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter of “Time of Angels”. Then we’re on to “Flesh and Stone”.

The Doctor hopped down off the rope ladder and patted Octavian on the shoulder. “Do we have a gravity globe?” he asked.

“Grav globe”, Octavian ordered.

A cleric handed it to the Doctor.

“Where are we? What is this?” Amy asked.

“It’s an Aplan Mortarium, sometimes called a Maze of the Dead”, River told her.

“What’s that?”

“Well, if you happen to be a creature of living stone…” The Doctor kicked the gravity globe into the air and it lit up, allowing them to see the whole space. “…the perfect hiding place”.

Elise’s mouth dropped open as she looked at the cavern around them.

River smiled and gently tapped her chin with her knuckle, causing the small Timelord to close her mouth.

“I guess this makes it a bit trickier”, Octavian said, “A stone Angel on the loose amongst stone statues. A lot harder than I’d prayed for”.

“A needle in a haystack”, River commented.

“A needle that looks like hay. A hay-like needle of death. A hay-alike needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues. No, yours was fine”, the Doctor said.

Elise whined and wiggled in the harness. She wanted to go back to the TARDIS.

“Doctor!” River hissed, rubbing Elise’s back, “It’s okay, sweetie”.

“Right. Check every single statue in this chamber. You know what you’re looking for. Complete visual inspection”, Octavian ordered, “One question. How do we fight it?”

“We find it, and hope”, the Doctor told him.

The Doctor, Amy, and Elise went on ahead, River following after them a moment later.

Amy stopped to rub her eye.

“You all right?” River asked her.

“Yeah, I’m fine. So, what’s a Maze of the Dead?”

“Oh, it’s not as bad as it sounds. It’s just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls. Okay, that was fairly bad. Right give me your arm”. River grabbed her arm and pulled out an injection device. “This won’t hurt a bit”. She placed it on Amy’s arm and pressed the button.

“Ow!”

“There, you see. I lied. It’s a viro-stabilizer. Stabilizes your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything. You’re going to need it when we get up to that ship”.

“So what are they like?” Amy gestured to the Doctor and Elise with her head.

“In the future, I mean. Because you know them in the future, don’t you?”

“The Doctor? Well, the Doctor’s the Doctor. Elise on the other hand…I’ve never seen a stronger girl. She’s a force to be reckoned with”.

“Oh. Well, that bit about the Doctor’s very helpful. Mind if I write that down?”

“Yes, we are”, River said, pointing her torch at the Doctor.

“Sorry, what?”

“Talking about you”.

“I wasn’t listening. I’m busy”.

“Ah. The other way up”.

He flipped the portable scanner around in his hand. “Yeah”.

Amy giggled. “You’re so his wife”.

“Oh, Amy, Amy, Amy. This is the Doctor we’re talking about”, River told her, “Do you really think it could be anything that simple?”

“Yep”.

“You’re good. I’m not saying you’re right, but you are very good”.

Gunfire could be heard and Elise cried out, hiding her face in the Doctor’s neck as they rushed back to the main group.

A cleric stood there with a gun in his hand in front of a statue. “Sorry, sorry. I thought. I thought it looked at me”, he told them.

“We know what the Angel looks like. Is that the Angel?” Octavian asked.

“No, sir”.

“No, sir, it is not. According to the Doctor, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil, so it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of décor”.

“What’s your name?” the Doctor asked the cleric.

“Bob, sir”.

“Ah, that’s a great name. I love Bob”.

“It’s a Sacred Name. We all have Sacred Names. They’re given to us in the service of the Church”, Octavian explained.

“Sacred Bob. More like Scared Bob now, eh?” the Doctor asked.

“Yes, sir”.

“Ah, good. Scared keeps you fast. Anyone in this room who isn’t scared is a moron. Carry on”.

“We’ll be moving into the maze in two minutes. You stay with Christian and Angelo. Guard the approach”, Octavian ordered.

“Why don’t you let me take her for a while?” River asked the Doctor.

“No, no. You are not taking Elise”.

River rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to kidnap her”.

“I said no”. When he turned on his heel, Elise slammed her head into his. “Ow!” he snapped, rubbing the spot, “Bloody hell, Elise”.

River smirked seeing Elise’s attitude coming out.

What she lacked in words, she made up for with attitude alone.

“Isn’t there a chance this lot’s just going to collapse? There’s a whole ship up there”, Amy asked as they ventured deeper into the cavern.

“Incredible builders, the Aplans”, River commented.

“Had dinner with their Chief Architect once. Two heads are better than one”, the Doctor told them.

“What, you mean you helped him?” Amy asked.

“No, I mean he had two heads. That book, the very end, what did it say?”

“Hang on”, River said, pulling out the book.

“Read it to me”.

“What if we had ideas that could think for themselves? What if one day our dreams no longer needed us? When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us. The time of Angels”.

“Are we there yet? It’s a hell of a climb”, Amy said.

“The Maze is on six levels, representing the ascent of the soul. Only two levels to go”, River explained.

“Lovely species, the Aplans. We should visit them some time”, the Doctor told Amy.

“I thought they were all dead?”

“So is Virginia Woolf. I’m on her bowling team. Very relaxed, sort of cheerful. Well, that’s having two heads, of course. You’re never short of a snog with an extra head”.

“Doctor, there’s something. I don’t know what it is”, River told him.

“Yeah, there’s something wrong. Don’t know what it is yet, either. Working on it. Of course, then they started having laws against self-marrying. I mean, what was that about? But that’s the Church for you. Er, no offense, Bishop”.

“Quite a lot taken, if that’s all right, Doctor”, Octavian said as they ventured into a dark corridor, “Lowest point in the wreckage is only about fifty feet up from here. That way”.

“The Church had a point, if you think about it. The divorces must have been messy”, Amy commented.

The Doctor stopped walking. “Oh”.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh”, River said, coming to the same conclusion.

Elise followed the Doctor’s eye line as it hit her as well. Oh.

“Exactly”, the Doctor said.

“How could we have not noticed that?” River asked.

“Low level perception filter, or maybe we’re thick”.

“What’s wrong, sir?” Octavian asked.

“Nobody move. Nobody move. Everyone stay exactly where they are. Bishop, I am truly sorry. I’ve made a mistake and we are all in terrible danger”, the Doctor told them.

“What danger?”

“The Aplans”, River said.

“The Aplans?” Octavian asked, not understanding.

“They’ve got two heads”.

“Yes, I get that. So?”

“So why don’t the statues?” the Doctor asked, “Everyone, over there. Just move. Don’t ask questions, don’t speak”.

Everyone moved away from the statues.

“Okay, I want you all to switch off your torches”, the Doctor told them, “Just do it”.

They did as he said.

“Okay. I’m going to turn off this one too, just for a moment”. He could feel Elise shaking behind him.

“Are you sure about this?” River asked.

“No”. The Doctor turned his off and then back on a second later.

“Oh, my God. They’ve moved”, Amy said.

The Doctor ran down the passageway and found dozens of statues coming towards them.

Elise’s eyes went wide and she wrapped her arms around the Doctor’s neck.

“They’re Angels. All of them”, the Doctor told the group.

“But they can’t be”, River said.

“Clerics, keep watching them”. The Doctor ran back to the main cavern and found all the statues climbing up towards them. “Every statue in this Maze, every single one, is a Weeping Angel. They’re coming after us”.

“But there was only one Angel on the ship. Just the one, I swear”, River told him.

“Could they have been here already?” Amy suggested.

“The Aplans. What happened? How did they die out?” the Doctor asked.

“Nobody knows”, River answered.

“We know”.

“They don’t look like Angels”, Octavian commented.

“And they’re not fast”, Amy added, “You said they were fast. They should have had us by now”.

“Look at them. They’re dying, losing their form. They must have been down here for centuries, starving”, the Doctor said.

“Losing their image?”

“And their image is their power. Power”. It hit him. He jumped up and clapped his hands together. “Power!”

“Doctor?” Amy asked.

“Don’t you see? All that radiation spilling out the drive burn. The crash of the Byzantium wasn’t an accident, it was a rescue mission for the Angels. We’re in the middle of an army, and it’s waking up”.

“We need to get out of here fast”, River told them.

Father Octavian stepped aside and pulled out a communicator. “Bob, Angelo, Christian, come in, please. Any of you, come in”.

“It’s Bob, sir. Sorry, sir”.

“Bob, are Angelo and Christian with you? All the statues are active. I repeat, all the statues are active”.

“I know, sir. Angelo and Christian are dead, sir. The statues killed them, sir”.

The Doctor grabbed the communicator from Octavian’s hand. “Bob, Sacred Bob, it’s me, the Doctor”.

“I’m talking to…”

The Doctor cut Octavian off. “Where are you now?”

“I’m talking to my…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up”. “I’m on my way up to you, sir. I’m homing in on your signal”, Bob told them.

“Ah, well done, Bob. Scared keeps you fast. Told you, didn’t I? Your friends, Bob. What did the Angel do to them?” the Doctor asked.

“Snapped their necks, sir”.

“That’s odd. That’s not how the Angels kill you. They displace you in time. Unless they needed the bodies for something”. The Doctor handed the communicator back to Octavian.

“Bob, did you check their data packs for vital signs?” he asked, “We may be able to initiate a rescue plan”.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and grabbed the communicator back. “Oh, don’t be an idiot. The Angels don’t leave you alive. Bob, keep running. But tell me, how did you escape?”

“I didn’t escape, sir. The Angel killed me, too”.

“What do you mean, the Angel killed you?”

“Snapped my neck, sir. Wasn’t as painless as I expected, but it was pretty quick, so that was something”. “If you’re dead, how can I be talking to you?”

“You’re not talking to me, sir. The Angel has no voice. It stripped my cerebral cortex from my body and re-animated a version of my consciousness to communicate with you. Sorry about the confusion”.

“So when you say you’re on your way up to us…”

“It’s the Angel that’s coming, sir, yes. No way out”.

“Then we get out through the wreckage. Go! Go, go, go. All of you run”, Octavian said.

“River!” the Doctor yelled.

She turned back to him. “Yes?”

“Take Elise”.

River nodded and pulled Elise out of the harness.

The Doctor blinked back tears as Elise screamed for him. He placed a quick kiss on her forehead and said, “Go”.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The group came to a tunnel and Father Octavian looked up. “Well. There it is, the Byzantium”.

“It’s got to be thirty feet. How do we get up there?” River asked him.

“Check all these exits. I want them all secure”.

The clerics spread out and checked the exits as River tried to calm Elise. “Shhh, sweetie. It’s okay”, she cooed.

“The statues are advancing along all corridors. And, sir, my torch keeps flickering”, one of the clerics said.

“They all do”, Octavian told him.

“So does the gravity globe”, River added.

“Clerics, we’re down to four men. Expect incoming”.

The Doctor and Amy came running into the tunnel. “Yeah, it’s the Angels. They’re coming. And they’re draining the power for themselves”.

“Which means we won’t be able to see them”, Octavian said.

“Which means we can’t stay here”.

“Two more incoming”, a cleric called out.

“Any suggestions?” River asked the Doctor.

“The statues are advancing on all sides. We don’t have the climbing equipment to reach the Byzantium”, Octavian told them.

“There’s no way up, no way back, no way out. No pressure, but this is usually when you have a really good idea”.

River looked down at the girl in her arms. “Oh sweetie, I wish you were older”.

“There’s always a way out”, the Doctor whispered mostly to himself, “There’s always a way out”.

Angel Bob came over the communicator. “Doctor? Can I speak to the Doctor, please?”

“Hello, Angels. What’s your problem?”

“Your power will not last much longer, and the Angels will be with you shortly. Sorry, sir”.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“There’s something the Angels are very keen you should know before the end”.

“Which is?”

“I died in fear”.

“I’m sorry?”

“You told me my fear would keep me alive, but I died afraid, in pain and alone. You made me trust you, and when it mattered, you let me down”.

“What are they doing?” Amy asked River.

“They’re trying to make him angry”.

“I’m sorry, sir. The Angels were very keen for you to know that”, Angel Bob said.

“Well then, the Angels have made their second mistake because I’m not going to let that pass. I’m sorry you’re dead, Bob, but I swear to whatever is left of you, they will be sorrier”.

“But you’re trapped, sir, and about to die”.

“Yeah. I’m trapped. And you know what? Speaking of traps, this trap has got a great big mistake in it. A great big, whopping mistake”.

“What mistake, sir?” The Doctor walked over Amy and River. “Trust me?” he asked Amy.

“Yeah”.

The Doctor turned to River next. “Trust me?”

“Always”.

He kissed Elise’s head and said, “I’m so sorry, but this is going to upset you”. He walked away before Elise could grab him. “You lot, trust me?” he asked Father Octavian.

“Sir, two more incoming”, a cleric called out.

“We have faith, sir”, Octavian told him.

“Then give me your gun”. Father Octavian did.

“I’m about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do, jump!” the Doctor told them.

“Jump where?” Octavian asked.

“Just jump, high as you can. Come on, leap of faith, Bishop. On my signal”.

“What signal?”

“You won’t miss it”.

The Doctor pointed the gun in the air and Elise realized why he had apologized to her.

“Sorry, can I ask again? You mentioned a mistake we made”, Angel Bob said.

“Oh, big mistake. Huge. Didn’t anyone ever tell you there’s one thing you never put in a trap? If you’re smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap”.

“And what would that be, sir?”

The Doctor smirked. “Me”. And he pulled the trigger.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter of “Flesh and Stone”.

“Up. Look up”, the Doctor told them.

Elise pulled her head from River’s neck and looked up. Her mouth dropped open as everyone stumbled to their feet.

“Are you okay?” River asked Amy.

“What happened?” “We jumped”.

“Jumped where?”

“Up. Up. Look up”, the Doctor repeated.

“Where are we?” Amy asked.

“Exactly where we were”, River told her.

“No we’re not”.

“Move your feet”, the Doctor told her.

Amy moved and he knelt down to sonic a circular hatch. “Doctor, what am I looking at? Explain”.

“Oh, come on, Amy, think. The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on? The artificial gravity. One good jump, and up we fell. Shot out the grav globe to give us an updraft, and here we are”.

“Doctor, the statues. They look more like Angels now”, Octavian told him.

“They’re feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the ship, restoring themselves. Within an hour, they’ll be an army”.

The hatch opened as one of the lights surrounding the hatch exploded.

“They’re taking out the lights. Look at them. Look at the Angels. Into the ship, now. Quickly, all of you”, the Doctor ordered.

“How?” Amy asked.

The Doctor jumped through the hatch into the ship.

“Doctor!”

The Doctor appeared to be standing in a vertical corridor. “It’s just a corridor. The gravity orientates to the floor. Now, in here, all of you. Don’t take your eyes off the Angels. Move, move, move. River! Pass Elise through first”.

River lowered the small Timelord into her father’s hands.

“Hello there”, he said, kissing her cheek. He lowered her into the harness again as the group dropped down into the corridor. The Doctor rushed over to a control panel and pulled out his sonic screwdriver to start working on it.

“The Angels. Presumably they can jump up too?” Octavian asked.

The hatch closed.

“They’re here, now”, the Doctor told him, “In the dark, we’re finished”.

A door on the other side of them started to close.

“Run!” the Doctor yelled.

“This whole place is a death trap”, Octavian said as the door closed.

“No, it’s a time bomb. Well, it’s a death trap and a time bomb. And now it’s a dead end. Nobody panic. Oh, just me then. What’s through here?”

“Secondary flight deck”, River told him.

“Okay. So we’ve basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?” Amy asked.

“I’ve thought about that”, the Doctor said.

“And?”

“And we’ll all plunge to our deaths. See? I’ve thought about it. The security protocols are still live. There’s no way to override them. It’s impossible”.

River was working on a control panel. “How impossible?” she asked.

“Two minutes”.

The hatch they came in through opened.

“The hull is breached and the power’s failing”, Octavian said.

River groaned. She really wished Elise was older so she could help out. The lights went out for a second and the angels started crawling into the corridor.

The Doctor read River’s mind and started helping her with the control panel.

“Sir, incoming”, a cleric said.

“Doctor? Lights”, Amy told him.

As the lights continued to flicker, the angels got closer to them.

“Clerics, keep watching them”, Octavian ordered.

“And don’t look at their eyes. Anywhere else. Not the eyes”, the Doctor added, “I’ve isolated the lighting grid. They can’t drain the power now”.

“Good work, Doctor”.

“Yes. Good, good, good. Good in many ways. Good you like it so far”.

“So far?” Amy asked.

The Doctor opened up the control panel. “Well, there’s only one way to open this door. I guess I’ll need to route all the power in this section through the door control”.

“Good. Fine. Do it”, Octavian told him.

“Including the lights. All of them. I’ll need to turn out the lights”.

“How long for?”

“Fraction of a second. Maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer”.

“Maybe?”

“I’m guessing. We’re being attacked by statues in a crashed ship. There isn’t a manual for this!”

“Doctor, we lost the torches. We’ll be in total darkness”, Amy mentioned.

“No other way”, he told her, “Bishop”.

Father Octavian turned to River. “Doctor Song, I’ve lost good Clerics today. You trust this man?”

River nodded. “I absolutely trust him”.

“He’s not some kind of madman, then?”

“I absolutely trust him”.

The Doctor patted River’s shoulder in thanks. “Excuse me”.

Elise watched as Father Octavian had a quiet conversation with River before he said, “Okay, Doctor. We’ve got your back”.

“Bless you. Bishop”.

“Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go down, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shot gun protocol. We don’t have bullets to waste”.

“Amy, when the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise four turns”.

Amy nodded and said, “Ten”.

“No, four. Four turns”, the Doctor corrected her.

“Yeah, four. I heard you”.

The Doctor walked over to the control panel. “Ready!” He stuck his sonic screwdriver into it and pressed the button. “Elise, the lights are going to go out and they’re going to shoot the angels. Okay?” He felt Elise nod against his back as her small arms wrapped around his neck.

“On my count, then”, Father Octavian ordered, “God be with us all. Three, two, one, fire!”

The lights went out and the clerics opened fire on the approaching statues.

“Turn!” the Doctor yelled to Amy.

“Doctor, it’s opening. It’s working”.

The door opened just far enough for Amy and River to squeeze through.

“Fall back!” the Doctor yelled at the clerics.

One by one they ran through the door.

The Doctor and Elise were the last ones through before it closed again. The Doctor ran to a control panel and opened another door that led to the secondary flight deck.

“Doctor, quickly”, River told him.

“Doctor!” Amy yelled.

The Doctor squeezed through, barely able to make it with Elise on his back.

The Angels started banging on the door as the wheel slowly started turning.

“Doctor!” Amy said as he ran to the controls.

Father Octavian placed a device on the door and pressed a button.

The wheel stopped turning.

“What are you doing?” Amy asked him.

“Magnetized the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now”.

“Yeah?” the Doctor challenged.

The wheel slowly started turning again.

“Dear God!” Octavian gasped.

“Ah, now you’re getting it. You’ve bought us time though. That’s good. I am good with time”, the Doctor told him.

“Doctor”, Amy said, pointing to another door where the wheel was turning.

“Seal that door. Seal it now”, Octavian ordered.

A cleric ran over and did the same as Father Octavian.

“We’re surrounded”, River said as another wheel started to turn. “

Seal it. Seal that door. Doctor, how long have we got?” Octavian asked.

“Five minutes, max”.

“Nine”, Amy said.

“Five”, the Doctor corrected her again.

“Five. Right. Yeah”.

“Why’d you say nine?”

“I didn't”.

“We need another way out of here”, River said.

“There isn’t one”, Octavian told her.

“Yeah, there is. Course there is. This is a galaxy class ship. Goes for years between planet falls. So, what do they need?” the Doctor asked.

Even Elise knew the answer to that question.

“Of course”, River said.

“Of course what? What do they need?” Amy asked, not understanding.

“Can we get in there?” Octavian asked him.

“Well, it’s a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up. There’s clamps. Release the clamps”, the Doctor said. He knelt down and soniced them.

“What’s through there? What do they need?” Amy asked.

“They need to breathe”, River told her.

Elise’s mouth dropped open as the wall slide up to reveal a vast forest.

“But that's…That’s a…” Amy stuttered.

“It’s an oxygen factory”, River said.

“It’s a forest”.

“Yeah, it’s a forest. It’s an oxygen factory”.

“And if we’re lucky, an escape route”, the Doctor told them.

Amy laughed. “Eight”.

“What did you say?” River asked her.

“Nothing”.

At this point, the Doctor, Elise, and River realized that something was very wrong with Amy.

“Is there another exit?” the Doctor asked, “Scan the architecture, we don’t have time to get lost in there”.

Octavian ran into the forest. “On it. Stay where you are until I’ve checked the Rad levels”.

“But trees, on a space ship?” Amy asked.

The Doctor entered the forest. “Oh, more than trees. Way better than trees. You’re going to love this. Treeborgs. Trees plus technology”. He pulled on a section of bark, exposing wires and fiber optics. “Branches become cables become sensors on the hull. A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air. It even rains. There’s a whole mini-climate. This vault is an ecopod running right through the heart of the ship. A forest in a bottle on a spaceship in a maze. Have I impressed you yet, Amy Pond?”

Amy giggled before saying, “Seven”.

“Seven?” the Doctor asked her. He came closer to her to look in her eyes, trying to pinpoint what was wrong with her.

“Sorry, what?”

“You said seven”.

“No. I didn’t.”

“Yes. You did”, River told her.

“Doctor, there’s an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck”, Octavian said.

“Oh, good. That’s where we need to go”.

“Plotting a safe path now”.

“Quick as you like”.

The communicator the Doctor was carrying came to life again.

“Doctor? Excuse me? Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir”.

The Doctor pulled it out and went to sit in the chair after pulling Elise out of the harness and setting her on the ground. “Ah. There you are, Angel Bob. How’s life? Sorry, bad subject”.

“The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve”.

“Achieve? We’re not achieving anything. We’re just hanging. It’s nice in here. Consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How’s things with you?”

“The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world. And all the stars and worlds beyond”.

“Well, we’ve got comfy chairs. Did I mention?”

“We have no need of comfy chairs”.

“I made him say comfy chairs”.

Amy giggled. “Six”.

The Doctor stood up. “Okay, Bob, enough chat. Here’s what I want to know. What have you done to Amy?”

“There is something in her eye”.

“What’s in her eye?”

“We are”.

The Doctor looked into Amy’s eyes again.

“What’s he talking about? Doctor, I’m five”, she told him, “I mean, five. Fine! I’m fine”.

“You’re counting”, River said.

“Counting?”

“You’re counting down from ten. You have been for a couple of minutes”, the Doctor informed her.

“Why?”

“I don’t know”.

“Well, counting down to what?”

“I don’t know”.

Angel Bob came back over the communicator. “We shall take her. We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space”.

The Doctor sat down in the chair again. “Get a life, Bob. Oops, sorry again. There’s power on this ship, but nowhere near that much”.

“With respect, sir, there’s more power on this ship than you yet understand”.

There was a loud screeching sound.

Elise ran to River and wrapped her arms around the woman’s legs. River picked her up and held Elise to her chest as she asked, “What’s that? Dear God, what is it?”

“They’re back”, Octavian said.

“It’s hard to put in your terms, Doctor Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing”, Angel Bob told them.

“Laughing?” the Doctor asked.

“Because you haven’t noticed yet, sir. The Doctor in the TARDIS hasn’t noticed”.

The way Angel Bob was taunting him reminded Elise of Prisoner Zero in the hospital. She turned her head and her eyes went wide as she stared at the crack in the wall.

“Doctor…” Octavian said.

“No. Wait. There’s something I’ve missed”, the Doctor told him. He turned around and saw the crack.

Oh this was very not good.


	16. Chapter 16

“That's…that's…that’s like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl”, Amy told the Doctor.

“Yes”, he said as the room started to shake.

“Okay, enough. We’re moving out”, Octavian told them.

“Agreed. Doctor?” River asked.

“Yeah, fine”. The Doctor stood on top of a box as he soniced the crack.

“What are you doing?”

“Right with you”.

“We’re not leaving without you”.

“Oh yes, you are. Bishop?”

“Miss Pond, Doctor Song, now!” Octavian yelled.

“Doctor?” Amy asked.

“Come on!” River told her.

Amy followed River, who was still holding Elise, into the forest. As they ventured further, she started to feel sick.

“Amy? Amy, what’s wrong?” River asked, noticing something was off with the ginger girl.

“Four”, Amy answered. She swayed on her feet and sat down.

River set Elise down as Amy laid down on a moss covered tree trunk. “Med scanner, now”, River ordered.

Elise, due to her size, was face to face with Amy. She reached out a hand to touch her.

“Elise, don’t”, River told her as a cleric handed her the med scanner.

“Doctor Song, we can’t stay here. We’ve got to keep moving”, Octavian told her.

“We wait for the Doctor”.

“Our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralize the Angels. Until that is achieved…”

“Father Octavian, when the Doctor’s in the room, your one and only mission is to keep him alive long enough to get everyone else home. Or give Elise enough time to come up with a plan. And trust me, it’s not easy. Now, if he’s dead back there, I’ll never forgive myself. And if he’s alive, I’ll never forgive him. And, Doctor, you’re standing right behind me, aren’t you?”

Elise looked behind River and saw her father.

“Oh, yeah”, he said.

“I hate you”, River told him.

“You don’t. Bishop, the Angels are in the forest”.

“We need visual contact on every line of approach”, Octavian said.

“How did you get past them?” River asked.

“I found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe”, the Doctor answered.

“What was it?” Amy asked, on the verge of tears.

“The end of the universe. Let’s have a look, then”. The Doctor grabbed the med scanner from River.

“So, what’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing. You’re fine”, River told her.

“Everything. You’re dying”, the Doctor said.

“Doctor!”

“Yes, you’re right. If we lie to her, she’ll get all better. Right. Amy, Amy, Amy. What’s the matter with Amelia? Something’s in her eye. What does that mean? Does it mean anything?”

“Doctor”, Amy said.

“Busy”.

“Scared”.

“Course you’re scared. You’re dying. Shut up”.

“Okay, let him think”, River told Amy.

The Doctor continued to think out loud. “What happened? She stared at the Angel. She looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long”.

“Sir! Angel incoming”, a cleric called out.

“And here”, another one said.

“Keep visual contact. Do not let it move”, Octavian ordered.

“Come on, come on, come on”, the Doctor muttered to himself, “Wakey, wakey. She watched an Angel climb out of the screen. She stared at the Angel and…and…”

“The image of an Angel is an Angel”, Amy recited.

“A living mental image in a living human mind. But we stare at them to stop them getting closer. We don’t even blink, and that is exactly what they want. Because as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside. There’s an Angel in her mind”. The Doctor clapped his hands over his mouth.

“Three. Doctor, it’s coming. I can feel it. I’m going to die”, Amy told him.

“Please just shut up. I’m thinking. Now, counting. What’s that about?” The Doctor pulled out the communicator. “Bob, why are they making her count?”

“To make her afraid, sir”.

“Okay, but why? What for?”

“For fun, sir”.

The Doctor groaned in frustration and threw the communicator into the forest.

“Doctor, what’s happening to me?” Amy asked, “Explain”.

“Inside your head, in the vision centers of your brain, there’s an Angel. It’s like there’s a screen, a virtual screen inside your mind and the Angel is climbing out of it, and it’s coming to shut you off”.

“Then what I do?”

“If it was a real screen, what would we do? We’d pull the plug. We’d kill the power. But we can’t just knock her out, the Angel would just take over”.

“Then what? Quickly”, River told him.

“We’ve got to shut down the vision centers of her brain. We’ve got to pull the plug. Starve the Angel”.

River looked at the med scanner. “Doctor, she’s got seconds”.

“How would you starve your lungs?”

“I’d stop breathing”.

“Amy, close your eyes”.

Amy shook her head. “No. No, I don’t want to”.

“Good, because that’s not you, that’s the Angel inside you. It’s afraid. Do it. Close your eyes”.

Amy shut her eyes and the med scanner turned from red to green.

“She’s normalizing”, River gasped with relief, “Oh, you did it. You did it”.

“Sir? Two more incoming”, a cleric called out.

“Three more over here”, another one said.

“Still weak. Dangerous to move her”, River told the Doctor.

“So, can I open my eyes now?” Amy asked.

“Amy, listen to me”, the Doctor said, “If you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die. The Angel is still inside you. We haven’t stopped it, we’ve just sort of paused it. You’ve used up your countdown. You cannot open your eyes”.

“Doctor, we’re too exposed here. We have to move on”, Octavian told him.

“We’re too exposed everywhere. And Amy can’t move. And anyway, that’s not the plan”.

“There’s a plan?” River asked.

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t finished talking. Right! Father, you and your Clerics, you’re going to stay here, look after Amy. If anything happens to her, I’ll hold every single one of you personally responsible, twice. River, you and me and Elise, we’re going to find the Primary Flight Deck which is…” The Doctor stuck a finger in his mouth before pulling it out and holding it up. “A quarter of a mile straight ahead, and from there we’re going to stabilize the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure Amy”.

“How?”

“I’ll do a thing”.

“What thing?”

“I don’t know. It’s a thing in progress. Respect the thing. Moving out!” He clapped his hands together and picked up Elise, setting her on his shoulders. He’d lost the harness when the Angels grabbed him, so they’d have to do the rest of this adventure the old fashioned way.

“Doctor, I’m coming with you”, Octavian told him, “My Clerics will look after Miss Pond. These are my best men. They’d lay down their lives in her protection”.

“I don’t need you”.

“I don’t care. Where Doctor Song goes, I go”.

“What? You two engaged or something?”

The Doctor looked between the two.

“Yes, in a manner of speaking”, Octavian said, “Marco, you’re in charge till I get back”.

“Sir”.

“Doctor? Please, can’t I come with you?” Amy asked.

“You’d slow us down, Miss Pond”, Octavian told her.

“I don’t want to sound selfish, but you’d really speed me up”.

The Doctor sat down next to Amy on the log and said, “You’ll be safer here. We can’t protect you on the move. I’ll be back for you soon as I can, I promise”.

“You always say that”.

“I always come back”.

Elise reached over and patted Amy on the head, trying her best to comfort her. “A…A…A…” she squeaked.

“Thanks Elise”, Amy said.

The Doctor stood up. “Good luck, everyone. Behave. Do not let that girl open her eyes. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. Amy, later. River, going to need your computer!” He bounded into the forest, following River and Father Octavian.

River handed him the mini-computer and transferred the readings from the crack into it. “What’s that?” River asked, taking Elise from his shoulders.

“Er, readings from a crack in the wall”.

“How can a crack in the wall be the end of the universe?”

“Don’t know, but here’s what I think. One day there’s going to be a very big bang. So big every moment in history, past and future, will crack”.

“Is that possible? How?”

“How can you be engaged, in a manner of speaking?”

“Well, sucker for a man in uniform”.

“Doctor Song’s in my personal custody. I released her from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and I am legally responsible for her until she’s accomplished her mission and earned her pardon. Just so we understand each other”, Octavian told him.

“You were in Stormcage?” the Doctor asked the computer chirped.

“What? What is that?” River asked, looking at the numbers.

“The date. The date of the explosion, where the crack begins”.

“And for those of us who can’t read the base code of the universe?”

The screen read 26 06 2010.

“Amy’s time”, the Doctor breathed.

They finally made it to the primary flight deck.

River stood with Elise on her hip with a gun pointed at the forest.

“Do you mind not holding my daughter while holding a gun?” the Doctor asked.

River rolled her eyes and set Elise down. Elise stood behind River, staring out at the forest.

“It doesn’t open it from here, but it’s the Primary Flight Deck. This has got to be a service hatch or something”, Octavian said.

“Hurry up and open it. Time’s running out”, River told him.

“What? What did you say? Time’s running out, is that what you said?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah. I just meant…”

“I know what you meant. Hush”. It suddenly hit him. “But what if it could?”

“What if what could?”

“Time. What if time could run out?”

“Got it”, Octavian said, opening the service hatch.

“Cracks. Cracks in time. Time running out. No, couldn’t be. Couldn’t be. But how is a duck pond a duck pond if there aren’t any ducks? And she didn’t recognize the Daleks. Okay, time can shift. Time can change. Time can be rewritten. Ah. Oh!”

“Doctor Song, get through, now”, Octavian told her.

River ushered Elise in front of her. “I need you to crawl through, sweetie. I’m right behind you”, she said.

Elise shook her head and pointed at her father.

“He’ll be right behind us. I promise. Now crawl”, River told her.

Elise climbed into the service hatch and started crawling towards the opening to the primary flight deck.

The Doctor followed after them a few minutes later and closed the service hatch.

River was messing with a bunch of wires. “There’s a teleport. If I can get it to work. We can beam the others here. Where’s Octavian?” River asked him.

“Octavian’s dead. So is that teleport. You’re wasting your time”. He grabbed River’s communicator. “I’m going to need your communicator”.

Elise looked at River. The woman looked like she wanted to cry, so Elise grabbed her hand.

River smiled down at the little Timelord.


	17. Chapter 17

The Doctor fiddled with the communicator and soon, Amy’s voice came through. “Hello? Hello?”

“Amy? Amy? Is that you?” the Doctor asked her.

“Doctor?”

“Where are you? Are the Clerics with you?”

“They’ve gone. There was a light and they walked into the light. Doctor, they didn’t even remember each other”.

“No, they wouldn't”.

“What is that light?” River asked.

“Time running out. Amy, I’m sorry, I made a mistake. I should never have left you there”, the Doctor said.

“Well, what do I do now?” Amy asked.

“You come to us. The Primary Flight Deck, the other end of the forest”.

“I can’t see. I can’t open my eyes”.

“Turn on the spot”.

“Sorry, what?”

“Just do it. Turn on the spot”. He held his sonic screwdriver up to the communicator. “When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver that means you’re facing the right way. Follow the sound. You have to start moving now. There’s Time Energy spilling out of that crack, and you have to stay ahead of it”.

“But the Angels, they’re everywhere”.

“I’m sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you”.

“What does the Time Energy do?”

“Just keep moving!”

“Tell me”.

“If the Time Energy catches up with you, you’ll never have been born. It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at all. Now, keep your eyes shut and keep moving”.

“It’s never going to work”, River told him.

“What else have you got! River! Tell me!”

Elise hid behind River’s legs and the Doctor sighed.

He hadn’t meant to scare her. He knew he shouldn’t lash out when he got angry, but sometimes he couldn’t help himself. He had to be better about that in the future.

“What’s that?” River asked, hearing a clanging noise coming from above them in the ship.

“The Angels running from the fire”, the Doctor told her, “They came here to feed on the Time Energy, now it’s going to feed on them. Amy, listen to me”. He soniced the communicator. “I’m sending a bit of software to your communicator. It’s a proximity detector. It’ll beep if there’s something in your way. You just maneuver till the beeping stops. Because, Amy, this is important. The forest is full of Angels. You’re going to have to walk like you can see”.

“Well, what do you mean?”

“Look, just keep moving”.

“That Time Energy, what’s it going to do?” River asked.

The Doctor rubbed his eyes. “Keep eating”.

“How do we stop it?”

“Feed it”.

“Feed it what?”

“A big, complicated space time event should shut it up for a while”.

“Like what, for instance?”

“Like me, for instance!”

Elise started to cry, clutching onto River’s legs. She wanted to go back to the TARDIS. This wasn’t fun anymore.

A high pitched beeping noise came over the communicator.

“What’s that?” Amy asked.

“It’s a warning. There are Angels round you now”, the Doctor told her, “Amy, listen to me. This is going to be hard but I know you can do it. The Angels are scared and running, and right now they’re not that interested in you. They’ll assume you can see them and their instincts will kick in. All you’ve got to do is walk like you can see. Just don’t open your eyes. Walk like you can see”.

The beeping continued.

“You’re not moving. You have to do this. Now”. The Doctor slammed his hand down on the monitor repeatedly. “You have to do this!”

A few seconds later, Amy appeared next to Elise and River in a flash of light.

River grabbed her. “Don’t open your eyes. You’re on the Flight Deck”, she told her.

“The Doctor’s here. I teleported you”. River gave the Doctor a smug smile. “See? Told you I could get it working”.

“River Song, I could bloody kiss you”.

“Ah well, maybe when you’re older”.

An alarm started going off.

“What’s that?” River asked.

“The Angels are draining the last of the ship’s power, which means the shield’s going to release”, the Doctor said.

The wall in front of them rose and an army of angels stood there.

“Angel Bob, I presume”, he said, addressing the angel in front holding a communicator.

“The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality”.

“Yeah, and look at you all, running away. What can I do for you?”

“There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close, and they will be saved”.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?”

“Your friends will also be saved”.

“Well, there is that”.

River walked up to the Doctor. “I’ve traveled in time. I’m a complicated space time event too. Throw me in”.

“Oh, be serious. Compared to me, these Angels are more complicated than you, and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip”.

“Doctor, I can’t let you do this”.

“No, seriously, get a grip”.

“You’re not going to die here!”

“No, I mean it. River, Amy, get a grip”.

River finally realized his plan. “Oh, you genius”.

“Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now”, Angel Bob told him.

“Thing is, Bob, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship. Every last bit of it. And you know what? I think they’ve forgotten where they’re standing. I think they’ve forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or to put it another way, Angels…”

River grabbed Amy’s hand and placed it on a handle attached to the console. “You hold on tight and don’t you let go for anything”, she told her. River grabbed Elise and placed her in front of her. “Hold on tight, sweetie”.

“Night, night”, the Doctor said as the gravity failed.

One by one the angels fell back into the crack and it snapped shut.

Amy sat on the beach with a blanket over her shoulders while Elise stood over by River. “Ah. Bruised everywhere”, Amy groaned.

“Me too”, the Doctor said.

“You didn’t have to climb out with your eyes shut”.

“Neither did you. I kept saying. The Angels all fell into the Time Field. The Angel in your memory never existed. It can’t harm you now”.

“Then why do I remember it at all? Those guys on the ship didn’t remember each other”.

“You’re a time traveler now. Amy. It changes the way you see the universe, forever. Good, isn’t it?”

Amy laughed. “And the crack, is that gone too?”

“Yeah, for now. But the explosion that caused it is still happening. Somewhere out there, somewhere in time”.

The Doctor walked over to River and Elise.

“You, me, handcuffs”, River said, raising her hands, “Must it always end this way?”

“What now?” the Doctor asked her.

“The prison ship’s in orbit. They’ll beam me up any second. I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time. We’ll see”.

“Octavian said you killed a man”.

“Yes, I did”.

“A good man”.

“A very good man. The best man I’ve ever known”.

“Who?”

River laughed. “It’s a long story. Doctor. It can’t be told, it has to be lived. No sneak previews. Well, except for this one. You’ll see me again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens”.

“The Pandorica”. The Doctor laughed and then leaned in towards River’s ear. “That’s a fairy tale”.

“Doctor, aren’t we all? I’ll see you there”.

“I look forward to it”.

“I remember it well”. River knelt down in front of Elise. “Be a good girl for daddy, okay?”

Elise nodded and lightly tapped River’s forehead with her own.

River got a burst of memories and feelings from it and smiled. She kissed the little girl’s forehead as Amy walked up to them.

“Bye, River”.

“See you, Amy”. River’s handcuffs started to beep continuously. “Oh, I think that’s my ride”.

“Can I trust you, River Song?” the Doctor asked.

“If you like. Ha, but where’s the fun in that?” River disappeared in a tornado of smoke.

The Doctor turned to stare out across the water.

“What are you thinking?” Amy asked him.

“Time can be rewritten”.

When they entered the TARDIS, the Doctor carried Elise to her room. “Okay, little one. Time for bed”, he told her.

Elise whined as the Doctor laid her down in her bed.

“No, none of that. Go to sleep”, he said.

Elise’s big blue eyes filled with tears and her bottom lip quivered.

The Doctor sighed and picked her up again. “I’m sorry about today. I didn’t mean to get so upset”, he told her as he rubbed her back.

Elise wrapped her arms around his neck.

He grabbed her blanket and her bear and sat down in a rocking chair.

The TARDIS had created a large window that allowed Elise to see the stars.

The Doctor covered Elise with the blanket and stroked her head where it lay on his chest as he thought about how to help her fall asleep the fastest. An idea hit him. “Why are there so many songs about rainbows? And what’s on the other side…” he sang.

The song was from an old Disney movie.

He’d have to sit Elise down and watch it with her one day. He gently rocked back and forth as he sang and soon enough, Elise was fast asleep in his arms.

The Doctor carefully stood up and carried her to her bed. “Goodnight Elise”. He leaned down and kissed her head, before leaving the room.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter of “Vampires in Venice”!

Elise woke up and ventured out of her room. Where was her father and Amy? Just as she was about to go looking for them, they came through the doors with a man following them.

It was Amy’s boyfriend.

What was his name again? Roger? Reggie?

The Doctor walked up to the small Timelord. “Elise! What are you doing? You’re supposed to stay in your room until I come and get you”, he scolded her.

Her bottom lip quivered as her eyes went wide.

The Doctor sighed and picked her up.

“Told you”, Amy sang.

“Shut-up”, the Doctor muttered.

“Um, who is she?” Rory asked Amy.

“The Doctor’s sort-of daughter. Elise, you remember Rory?”

The Doctor handed Elise to Amy as he went down below the platform to work on the TARDIS.

“Umm, hello?” Rory said to Elise.

Elise just smiled and waved.

“She doesn’t really speak. She’s trying to, aren’t you?” Amy said.

Elise nodded.

“But she’s what? 4 or 5? She should be speaking by now”, Rory said.

Elise, ashamed, hid her face in Amy’s red hair.

Amy rubbed her back to comfort her as she glared at her fiancé.

“What?” he asked. He hadn’t meant to upset the little girl.

“Oh, the life out there, it dazzles. I mean, it blinds you to the things that are important. I’ve seen it devour relationships and plans”.

The rotor sparked and let out smoke.

“It’s meant to do that”, the Doctor told them, “Because for one person to have seen all that, to taste the glory and then go back, it will tear you apart. So, I’m sending you somewhere, together”.

“Whoa. What, like a date?” Amy asked.

The Doctor put his goggles away and made his way to the platform. “Anywhere you want. Any time you want. One condition. It has to be amazing. The Moulin Rouge in 1890. The first Olympic Games. Think of it as a wedding present, because it’s either this or tokens. It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it? Tiny box, huge room inside. What’s that about? Let me explain”.

“It’s another dimension”, Rory said.

“It’s basically another dimens…What?”

“After what happened with Prisoner Zero, I’ve been reading up on all the latest scientific theories. FTL travel, parallel universes”.

“I like the bit when someone says it’s bigger on the inside. I always look forward to that”.

“So, this date”, Amy said, breaking up a fight she had feeling was about to start, “I’m kind of done with running down corridors. What do you think, Rory?”

The Doctor pulled a lever. “How about somewhere romantic?”

When they landed, Amy helped Elise into her new harness and they left the TARDIS. They stepped out into a busy marketplace.

“Venice!” the Doctor said, throwing his arms out, “Venezia. La Serenissima. Impossible city. Preposterous city. Founded by refugees running from Attila the Hun. It was just a collection of little wooden huts in the middle of the marsh, but became one of the most powerful cities in the world”.

The Doctor continued to rant as they walked. “Constantly being invaded, constantly flooding, constantly just beautiful. Ah, you got to love Venice. So many people did. Byron, Napoleon, Casanova. Ooo, that reminds me”. The Doctor checked his watch. “1580. That’s all right. Casanova doesn’t get born for a hundred and forty five years. Don’t want to run into him. I owe him a chicken”.

“You owe Casanova a chicken?” Rory asked him.

“Long story. We had a bet”.

A man stepped into their pathway and stopped them. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Papers, if you please. Proof of residency, current bill of medical inspection”.

The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper and held it up. “There you go, fellow. All to your satisfaction, I think you’ll find”.

The inspector snatched the psychic paper from his hand. “I am so sorry, your Holiness. I didn’t realize”.

The Doctor made a cross sign over his chest. “No worries. You were just doing your job. Sorry, what exactly is your job?”

“Checking for aliens. Visitors from foreign lands what might bring the plague with them”.

“Oh, that’s nice. See where you bring me? The plague”, Amy said, hitting the Doctor on the arm.

“Don’t worry, Viscountess. No, we’re under quarantine here. No one comes in, no one goes out, and all because of the grace and wisdom of our patron, Signora Rosanna Calvierri”, the inspector told them.

“How interesting. I heard the plague died out years ago”, the Doctor said.

“Not out there. No, Signora Calvierri has seen it with her own eyes. Streets are piled high with bodies, she said”.

“Did she now?”

Rory took the psychic paper from the Inspector. “Er, according to this, I am your eunuch”, he told Amy.

“Oh yeah. I’ll explain later”, she said, hurrying after the Doctor and Elise.

They came to a stop and watched a procession of girls in white dresses and veils from across the canal.

A man ran up to them. He went through the girls yelling, “Isabella!”

One of the girls knocked him down and they quickly left.

Now that was odd.

Since this was meant to be Amy and Rory’s date, the Doctor decided to leave them and find out what was going on. Amy didn’t want to run through corridors? Fine. He’d do it himself, with Elise of course.

The Doctor and Elise waited in an alleyway not far from the canal. When the man walked by, the Doctor popped out. “Who are those girls?” he asked him.

“I thought everyone knew about the Calvierri school”.

“My first day here. It’s okay. Parents do all sorts of things to get their children into good schools. They move house, they change religion. So why are you trying to get her out?”

“Something happens in there. Something magical, something evil. My own daughter didn’t recognize me. And the girl who pushed me away, her face, like an animal”.

The Doctor through an arm over the man’s shoulder and said, “I think it’s time I met this Signora Calvierri”.

Guido ran up to the gates of the school yelling, “You have my daughter. Isabella!”

The distraction allowed the Doctor and Elise to sneak around to the water gate and get in that way.

The Doctor had tried to leave Elise with Guido, but she screamed when he tried to hand her over. Maybe Wilf was right. Maybe she was too attached to him.

They made their way down a stone staircase into a basement. There was a mirror on the wall and the Doctor walked up to it.

“Hello, handsome”, he said, adjusting his bowtie.

Elise rolled her eyes.

“Who are you?” a chorus of voices asked.

The Doctor spun around and saw five girls standing there. He looked at them and then back at the mirror.

They had no reflections.

“How are you doing that? I am loving it. You’re like Houdini, only five slightly scary girls, and he was shorter. Will be shorter. I’m rambling”.

“I’ll ask you again, signor. Who are you?”

“Why don’t you check this out?” He pulled out a black wallet and showed them. The girls just stared at it until he flipped it around. He groaned, realizing it wasn’t his psychic paper. “Library card. Of course, it’s with….He's…I need a spare. Pale, creepy girls who don’t like sunlight and can’t be seen in…Ha. Am I thinking what I think I’m thinking? But the city. Why shut down the city? Unless…”

“Leave now, signor, or we shall call for the Steward, if you are lucky”. The girls’ teeth turned into needles and Elise whimpered in the Doctor’s ear.

They started to come towards them, hissing.

“Tell me the whole plan!”

The girls continued to advance on them.

“One day that will work”, he muttered, “Listen, I would love to stay here. This whole thing. I’m thrilled. Oh, this is Christmas”. The Doctor turned and ran for the stairs.

Night had fallen.

“Doctor!” Amy yelled, running towards them.

“Elise and I just met some vampires”.

“We just saw a vampire”.

“And creepy girls and everything”.

“Vampires”.

The two jumped up and down with excitement, jostling Elise.

She whined and tapped the back of the Doctor’s head with her forehead, letting him know she didn’t appreciate it.

The Doctor stopped jumping as Rory finally caught up.

“We think we just saw a vampire”, Rory said.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Amy was just telling me”, the Doctor told him.

“Yeah, yeah. The Doctor and Elise actually went to their house”, Amy said.

“Oh. Right. Well…”

“Okay. So, first we need to get back in there somehow”, the Doctor said.

“What?” Rory asked.

“How do we do that?” Amy asked.

“Back in where?”

“Come and meet me and Elise’s new friend”, the Doctor told them.

Elise sat in the Doctor’s lap as they came up with a plan.

Guido had a map of Venice laying out on the table. “As you saw, there’s no clear way in. The House of Calvierri is like a fortress. But there’s a tunnel underneath it, with a ladder and shaft that leads up into the house. I tried to get in once myself, but I hit a trapdoor”, Guido said.

“You need someone on the inside”, Amy told them.

“No”, the Doctor said.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say”.

“Er, that we pretend you’re an applicant for the school to get you inside, and tonight you come down and open the trapdoor to let us in”.

“Oh. So you do know what I was going to say”.

“Are you insane?” Rory asked her.

“We don’t have another option”.

“He said no, Amy. Listen to him”.

“There is another option”, Guido told them. He pointed to the barrels behind where Rory was sitting. “I work at the Arsenale. We build the warships for the navy”.

The Doctor set Elise down on the table and walked over to the barrels, sniffing them. “Gunpowder. Most people just nick stationery from where they work. Look, I have a thing about guns and huge quantities of explosive”.

Rory got up and moved away from the gunpowder only to bump into a dead rabbit hanging near the fireplace.

“What do you suggest, then? We wait until they turn her into an animal?” Guido asked.

“I’ll be there three, four hours, tops”, Amy told the Doctor.

He considered it for a second, admiring her bravery before he shut the idea down. “No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It can’t keep happening like this. This is how they go”. The Doctor sat down on Guido’s bed and rubbed his face with his hand. “But I have to know. We go together, say you’re my daughter”.

“What? Don’t listen to him”, Rory told her.

“Your daughter? You look about nine”. He barely looked old enough to claim Elise was his daughter and she looked like him.

“Brother, then”.

“Too weird. Fiancé”.

“I’m not having him run around telling people he’s your fiancé”, Rory said.

“No. No, you’re right”, Amy said, finally agreeing with him on something.

“Thank you”.

“I mean, they’ve already seen the Doctor. You should do it”.

“Me?”

“Yeah. You can be my brother”.

“Why is him being your brother weird, but with me, it’s okay?”

“Actually, I thought you were her fiancé”, Guido said, gesturing to the Doctor.

“Yeah, that’s not helping”.

“This whole thing is mental!” Rory told Amy, “They’re vampires, for God’s sake”.

“We hope”, the Doctor said.

“So if they’re not vampires?” Amy asked.

“Makes you wonder what could be so bad it doesn’t actually mind us thinking it’s a vampire…”


	19. Chapter 19

“She’ll be fine”, the Doctor reassured Rory as Guido maneuvered the gondola. The Doctor had readjusted Elise’s harness so now she was facing his chest as he tried to soothe her.

She was starting to get fussy due to being tired, but there was no time to go back to the TARDIS and put her to bed.

“You can promise me that, can you?” Rory hissed.

“We’re here”, Guido told them.

“What happened, between you and Amy? You said she kissed you”, Rory said as they entered the tunnel.

Elise was confused. Amy kissed the Doctor? That must have been after he put her to bed. But she was engaged to Rory. Why would she kiss the Doctor then?

“Now? You want to do this now?” the Doctor snapped.

“I have a right to know. I’m getting married in four hundred and thirty years”.

“She was frightened. I was frightened. But we survived, you know, and the relief of it, and so she kissed me”.

“And you kissed her back”.

“No. I kissed her mouth”.

“Funny”.

“Rory. Rory, she kissed me because I was there. It would have been you. It should have been you”.

“Yeah, it should have been me”.

“Exactly. That’s why I brought you here”.

A gust of wind blew out the torch the Doctor was carrying. Elise whined and the Doctor rubbed her back to comfort her.

“Can we go and see the vampires now, please?”

The trap door came out in a courtyard and Elise was grateful to be able to see the stars again. 

The Doctor climbed out and then helped Rory up. “Come on. There we are. Amy. Where’s Amy? Amy?” She should have been here.

Elise was worried about her and her father’s ginger friend.

“I can’t see a thing”, the Doctor muttered.

“Just as well I brought this, then”, Rory said, pulling out a tiny penlight. Being a nurse, he always kept one on him.

The Doctor pulled out a long cylindrical light. “Ultraviolet. Portable sunlight”.

“Yours is bigger than mine”.

The Doctor gave Rory a look. “Let’s not go there”.

As they waited for Amy, Rory contemplated what to do concerning his wedding. “If we cancel now, we lose the deposit on the village hall. The salsa band. Oh…”

Elise rolled her eyes. If she were older, she would have slapped him and said, “We have bigger problems to worry about than whether you’re getting married in the morning or not!”

The Doctor walked over to a chest and opened it. In it sat corpses of girls. The Doctor was suddenly glad Elise couldn’t see them.

“What happened to them?” Rory asked.

“They’ve had all the moisture taken out of them”, the Doctor told him.

“That’s what vampires do, right? They drink your blood and replace it with their own”.

“Yeah, except these people haven’t just had their blood taken, but all the water in their entire bodies.”

“Why did they die? Why aren’t they like the girls in the school?”

“Maybe not everyone survives the process”.

Rory threw his arms up in frustration and stormed away from the Doctor and Elise. “You know what’s dangerous about you? It’s not that you make people take risks, it’s that you make them want to impress you. You make it so they don’t want to let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you’re around. Elise is your daughter, right? What kind of parent are you? Taking her into dangerous situations like this?”

“Who are you?” The six girls from earlier appeared and the Doctor waved his UV light at them.

“We should run. Run!”

The Doctor, Elise, and Rory ran into the school, but were stopped by a woman and a man.

Elise guessed this was the head of the school, Signora Rosanna Calvierri.

“Cab for Amy Pond?” the Doctor asked.

The six girls came up behind them, blocking their way out.

“This rescue plan. Not exactly watertight, is it?” Rosanna asked.

The Doctor waved his UV light at the girls as Amy and Guido’s daughter, Isabella, ran into them.

“Rory!” Amy said.

“Amy”.

“Quickly, through here”, Isabella told them.

“They’re not vampires”, Amy said as they followed Isabella down a set of stairs.

“What?” the Doctor asked.

“I saw them. I saw her. They’re not vampires, they’re aliens”.

The Doctor soniced the trapdoor before following. “Classic”.

“That’s good news? What is wrong with you people?” Rory yelled.

“Come on, Rory. Move”, the Doctor told him.

The girls were catching up to them.

“Keep moving. Come on, guys!” the Doctor encouraged.

They finally made it the tunnel entrance. It was day again and Guido was waiting for them with the gondola.

“Quickly, quickly. Get out. Quick. Quick”, Isabella told them. Isabella tried to go with them, but the sunlight was too much for her. The girls pulled her away and the door slammed shut.

The Doctor banged on the door and the moment he touched the metal, he was shocked and collapsed onto the wooden steps.

Rory ran forward and knelt down next to him.

“Is he dead?” Amy asked.

“No, he’s breathing”, Rory told him.

“What about Elise?”

Rory lifted Elise out of the harness and placed two fingers on her neck. “She’s breathing. Knocked out like the Doctor though”. He handed Elise to Amy, who cradled the little girl in her arms.

The Doctor came to a few minutes later and went after Isabella as Guido took Amy, Rory, and Elise back to his house.

When Elise came to, she panicked when she realized the Doctor wasn’t with them.

Amy tried to soothe her, but Elise continued to scream her head off.

“D…D…D…” she cried.

Rory took Elise from Amy and set her on his shoulder. He started humming a random song and Elise calmed down.

It wasn’t the song the Doctor sang to her, but it was calming enough.

The Doctor came through the door.

“Oh thank god!” Amy said as Rory handed Elise him.

Elise threw her small arms around his neck.

“Hey, it’s okay”, he told her, “You’re okay”. The Doctor felt bad that Elise had gotten shocked, purely because he had been carrying her. Maybe Rory was right.

Once Elise had been calmed enough, he set her down and checked Amy’s puncture wounds. “You’re fine. Open wide”, he told her. He popped a candy into her mouth. “Argh. I need to think. Come on, brain. Think, think, think. Think”, he said, sitting down at the table.

“If they’re fish people, it explains why they hate the sun”, Amy said.

He covered her mouth with his hand. “Stop talking. Brain thinking. Hush”.

“It’s the school thing I don’t understand”, Rory added.

The Doctor put his other hand over Rory’s mouth. “Stop talking. Brain thinking. Hush”.

“I say we take the fight to them”, Guido told them.

“Ah, ah, ah”.

“What?”

The Doctor looked at Rory and gestured to Guido with his head. Rory put his hand over Guido’s mouth. “Her planet dies, so they flee through a crack in space and time and end up here. Then she closes off the city and, one by one, starts changing the people into creatures like her to start a new gene pool. Got it. But then what? They come from the sea. They can’t survive forever on land, so what’s she going to do? Unless she’s going to do something to the environment to make the city habitable. She said, I shall bend the heavens to save my race. Bend the heavens”. He placed his hands on Amy and Rory’s heads and moved them back and forth. “Bend the heavens. She’s going to sink Venice”.

“She’s going to sink Venice?” Guido asked.

“…And repopulate it with the girls she’s transformed”.

“You can’t repopulate somewhere with just women. You need blokes”, Rory said.

“She’s got blokes”, Amy said, recalling what Rosanna had said.

“Where?” the Doctor asked.

“In the canal. She said to me there are ten thousand husbands waiting in the water”.

“Only the male offspring survived the journey here. She’s got ten thousand children swimming around the canals, waiting for Mum to make them some compatible girlfriends. Urgh. I mean, I’ve been around a bit, but really that’s, that’s eugh”.

A sound came from up above them.

“The people upstairs are very noisy”, the Doctor said.

“There aren’t any people upstairs”, Guido told him.

“Do you know, I knew you were going to say that. Did anyone else know he was going to say that?”

“Is it the vampires?” Rory asked.

“Like I said, they’re not vampires”. The Doctor pulled out his UV light. “Fish from space”.

A window broke and the girls from the school appeared.

“Aren’t we on the second floor?” Rory asked.

The Doctor waved his UV light at them and then used his screwdriver to show what they really looked like.

“What’s happened to them?” Guido asked.

“There’s nothing left of them. They’ve been fully converted. Blimey, fish from space have never been so buxom. Okay, move”, the Doctor told them.

Amy grabbed Elise and started running.

“Go, go, go, guys. Keep moving. Go, go, go”, the Doctor said as they made it outside.

Amy, Rory, and Elise ran on ahead as the Doctor stayed back to try and help Guido.

There was a loud explosion. A second later, smoke started to rise out of a bell tower.

“Rosanna’s initiating the final phase”, the Doctor said.

“We need to stop her. Come on”, Amy told him.

“No, no, no. Get back to the TARDIS”.

“You can’t stop her on your own”.

“We don’t discuss this. I tell you to do something, Amy, and you do it. Huh?”

Amy stormed off with Elise in her arms, not even allowing the young Timelord to say goodbye to her father. As Amy, Rory, and Elise were making their way back to the TARDIS, they were stopped by Rosanna’s son, Francesco.

Rory picked up a couple of candlesticks and held them out in front of him in the sign of a cross. “Amy, run”, Rory told her.

Francesco knocked the candlesticks out of Rory’s hand and advanced towards Amy and Elise.

“This way, you freak. No!” Rory yelled, “This way, you big, stupid, great SpongeBob. The only thing I’ve seen uglier than you is your Mum”.

Francesco turned to face Rory. “Huh?”

“No”.

“Did you just say something about Mummy?”

Rory picked up a broomstick and lunged towards Francesco.

Francesco drew his sword.

Rory managed to block a few of Francesco’s swipes before the broomstick was chopped in half.

Amy spotted a staircase. She set Elise down and pointed at the staircase and the little Timelord ran, Amy following. “This way. Bring him this way. Rory!” Amy yelled.

Rory backed up towards the staircase as Francesco changed to his real form and leapt towards him.

“Hey, Mummy’s boy!” Amy yelled.

Francesco looked up as Amy opened her compact mirror. The sunlight hit Francesco who burned up instantly and exploded, covering Rory in ash.

“Oh”, Rory gagged.

“That was lucky”, Amy said, closing her compact mirror, “Why did you make the sign of the cross, you numpty?”

Rory climbed the stairs towards them. “Oh. Oh, right, I’m being reviewed now, am I?” Amy grabbed him and kissed him as Elise pulled a face. “Now we go help the Doctor. Come along, Elise!” Amy said.

The young Timelord took the ginger’s hand.

“Rightio”, Rory said, following after the two girls.

Amy, Elise, and Rory entered the Calvierri school.

They ran into the throne room and ran into the Doctor.

“Get out. I need to stabilize the storm”, he told them.

“We’re not leaving you”, Rory said.

The Doctor stalked up to Rory. “Right, so one minute it’s all you make people a danger to themselves, and the next it’s we’re not leaving you. But if one of you gets squashed or blown up or eaten, who gets the…”

The house shook, knocking them all to the ground.

Amy covered Elise’s small body with her own.

“What was that?” Rory asked.

The Doctor stumbled to his feet. “Nothing. Bit of an earthquake”.

“An earthquake?” Amy asked, getting her feet. She helped Elise up and the little girl grabbed her hand.

“Manipulate the elements, it can trigger earthquakes. But don’t worry about them”, the Doctor told them.

“No?” Rory asked.

“No. Worry about the tidal waves caused by the earthquake. Right, Rosanna’s throne is the control hub but she’s locked the program, so, tear out every single wire and circuit in the throne. Go crazy. Hit it with a stick, anything. We need it to shut down and re-route control to the secondary hub, which I’m guessing will also be the generator”. The Doctor started to run from the room before he stopped and turned back to them. “Elise!” She looked at him and he pulled out his screwdriver. “Point and think!”

She nodded and pulled out her own. She pointed it at the wires and thought about what the Doctor said as Amy and Rory went to town ripping out what they could.

“Oh yeah, she’s definitely the Doctor’s daughter”, Rory said watching the young Timelord work.

Once they were done, they went outside and watched the Doctor struggle to stop the device. “

There he is!” Rory said, pointing to the top of the bell tower, “Come on. Come on”.

“Come on”, Amy said.

The rain stopped and the clouds disappeared. People around them clapped and cheered.

Amy, Rory, and Elise made their way back to the TARDIS and waited for the Doctor.

Elise was asleep in Amy’s arms.

“Now then, what about you two, eh? Next stop Leadworth Registry Office. Maybe I can give you away”, the Doctor said.

Rory looked at Amy. “It’s fine. Drop me back where you found me. I’ll just say you've…”

“Stay”, she told him, “With us. Please. Just for a bit. I want you to stay”.

Rory looked at the Doctor for approval.

“Fine with me”.

“Yeah? Yes, I would like that”.

“Nice one”, Amy said kissing him, “I will pop the kettle on and put this one to bed. Hey, look at this. Got my spaceship, got my boys. My work here is done”. Amy entered the TARDIS and carried Elise to her bedroom.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Chapter 20. Can you believe we’ve made it this far? We’re onto “Amy’s Choice” now, so we’re half-way through the season!

_The Doctor stumbled out of the TARDIS from where it was parked in a small garden. “_ _Rory!” the Doctor yelled as he came out of the house._

_“Doctor”._

_“I’ve crushed your flowers…”  
_

_“Oh, Amy will kill you”._

_“Where is she?”_

_“She’ll need a bit longer”.  
_

_“Whenever you’re ready, Amy!”  
_

_Amy waddled out of the house._

_“Oh, way-hey! You’ve swallowed a planet!” the Doctor exclaimed._

_“I’m pregnant”, Amy told him.  
_

_“You’re huge”.  
_

_“Yeah, I’m pregnant”.  
_

_“Look at you. When worlds collide”.  
_

_“Doctor, I’m pregnant”.  
_

_“Oh, look at you both. Five years later and you haven’t changed a bit…” The Doctor hugged his former companions. “…apart from age and size”.  
_

_“Oh, it’s good to see you, Doctor”.  
_

_“Are you pregnant?”  
_

_Amy laughed. “Where’s Elise?” Amy asked him._

_The Doctor waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, dropped her off with River for a while”.  
_

_“Oh? Co-parenting, I see”, Amy said.  
_

Elise opened her eyes and found herself in a bedroom, but it wasn’t her one on the TARDIS. She sat up as her father came into the room. 

“Good morning, my little one!” he said, “C’mon. Mummy has breakfast waiting”. 

He picked her up and carried her downstairs.

River was standing in the kitchen. 

The Doctor handed her off to River and Elise buried her face in the woman’s blonde curls.

“How did you sleep, my little star?” she asked.

Where were Amy and Rory? 

“She seems a little off today”, the Doctor told River as he ate some cereal straight from the box. 

River glared at him as she rubbed Elise’s back. “You’ll feel better once you eat something, love”, River said and put her in her chair. 

But all Elise wanted was her Auntie Amy. Her blue eyes filled with tears.

“Oh, don’t cry”, the Doctor told her, “We’ll go to the park later and then we can go for ice cream!”

“Not until she’s eaten breakfast”, River said. River set a plate of scrambled eggs in front of her, but Elise pushed it away from her. 

She didn’t want to eat. She wanted to go back to the TARDIS. 

River sighed. “Elise Smith, eat your food or we’re not going to the park”. 

Elise picked up her fork and ate her breakfast reluctantly. Once she was done, River took her upstairs to get dressed. 

They came back downstairs and River opened the front door. 

Elise’s eyes went wide. She was on Gallifrey. They were on Gallifrey! The sky was the same burnt orange she remembered it being and the trees shone with silver leaves. Elise ran into the front yard, burying her hands in the red grass. It all felt so real.

“Elise!” her father called.

She walked over to him and he pulled a tarp off something. 

A brand new tricycle sat there.

“Made it myself”, he told her, “Still has training wheels of course. I thought you could ride it to the park”.

_“Someone, something, is overriding my controls!” the Doctor yelled.  
_

_A short man in a red bow tie and tweed jacket appeared on the stairs behind the Doctor. “Well, that took a while. Honestly, I’d heard such good things. Last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm. Him in the bow tie”, he said.  
_

_“How did you get into my TARDIS? What are you?”_

_“What shall we call me? Well, if you’re the Time Lord, let’s call me the Dream Lord”.  
_

_“Nice look”.  
_

_“This? No, I’m not convinced. Bow ties?”  
_

_The Doctor tossed his screwdriver at the Dream Lord and it went right through him. “Interesting”.  
_

_“I’d love to be impressed, but Dream Lord. It’s in the name, isn’t it? Spooky. Not quite there”. He popped up behind them. “And yet, very much here”.  
_

_“I’ll do the talking, thank you. Amy, want to take a guess at what that is?” the Doctor asked._

_“Er, Dream Lord. He creates dreams”.  
_

_“Dreams, delusions, cheap tricks”.  
_

_The Dream Lord pointed to Rory. “And what about the gooseberry, here. Does he get a guess?”  
_

_“Er, listen, mate. If anyone’s the gooseberry round here, it’s the Doctor”, Rory said.  
_

_“Well now, there’s a delusion I’m not responsible for”._

_“No, he is. Isn’t he, Amy”._

_“Oh, Amy, have to sort your men out. Choose, even”.  
_

_“I have chosen. Of course I’ve chosen”, Amy told him. There was a pause before Amy hit Rory. “It’s you, stupid”.  
_

_“Oh, good. Thanks”.  
_

_The Dream Lord popped up behind them again. “You can’t fool me. I’ve seen your dreams. Some of them twice. Amy. Blimey, I’d blush if I had a blood supply or a real face”.  
_

_“Where did you pick up this cheap cabaret act?” the Doctor asked._

_“Me? Oh, you’re on shaky ground”._

_“Am I?”  
_

_“If you had any more tawdry quirks you could open up a Tawdry Quirk Shop. The madcap vehicle, the cockamamie hair, the clothes designed by a first-year fashion student. I’m surprised you haven’t got a little purple space dog just to ram home what an intergalactic wag you are. Where was I?”  
_

_“You were…” Rory said.  
_

_The Dream Lord appeared on the upper part of the TARDIS. “I know where I was. So, here’s your challenge. Two worlds. Here, in the time machine, and there, in the village that time forgot”.  
_

_“One question. What have you done with Elise?”  
_

_“And why would you care about that brat? She’s been a burden on you ever since you ‘acquired’ her”._

_“She’s not a brat. She’s my daughter”.  
_

_The Dream Lord rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ve sent her into her own dream. But it’s not all sunshine and roses there either”._

_“If you’ve harmed her…”_

_“Nothing dangerous. Just not as sweet as it can be. Soon as you choose, you can have her back. Here are the rules for you three. One is real, the other’s fake. And just to make it more interesting, you’re going to face in both worlds a deadly danger, but only one of the dangers is real. Tweet, tweet. Time to sleep”.  
_

_The birdsong started up again.  
_

_“Oh. Or are you waking up?”_

The Doctor and River walked hand-in-hand down to the shops with Elise riding her tricycle in front of them. 

She noticed the looks they were getting. People whispered behind their hands as they passed. 

“Ignore them, sweetie” River told her. 

They finally came to the park and Elise left her bike with them to go play on the playground. But all the children she encountered ignored her. It was like she wasn’t even there. Every time she tried to insert herself into a game, the other children stopped playing and walked away from her. Elise finally sat down on a swing by herself as she watched her father and River argue.

“It’s okay, sweetie”, River told him.

“No! It’s not, River! Look at her!” 

“Shh, keep your voice down”.

“The other children won’t even play with her. What are we supposed to do when she starts the Academy? The teachers are going to be extra tough on her because she’s my daughter”. 

“We’ll figure that out when it comes time”. 

Tears filled Elise’s eyes as she stormed over to them. She wrapped her arms around River’s legs as she cried. 

River picked her up. “Shh…it’s okay, sweetie”. 

The Doctor sadly picked up the tricycle and they walked home while River tried to comfort Elise. 

Elise didn’t understand what was going on, but she didn’t want this anymore. She wanted to be with Amy and Rory and her father in the TARDIS. 

Exploring the galaxy and running around saving people. 

When they got home, Elise went straight to her room and climbed in bed. Her father followed her and laid down behind her. Elise rolled over and buried her face in his chest, taking comfort from his scent. 

Whatever this was, he still smelled the same to her and wore his tweed jacket and bow tie with pride. “I’m sorry”, he said as he stroked her hair.

She could hear the tears in his voice. Elise closed her eyes as he started to hum “Rainbow Connection”. 

The song he used to help her fall asleep after the Byzantium. 

A few minutes later, the door opened and River walked in carrying a breakfast tray with three bowls of ice cream.

“I thought you two could use some cheering up”, she said. She set it down on the bed as Elise and the Doctor sat up. River went into the bathroom and grabbed a warm wet towel and cleaned Elise’s face. “There we go”, she said, smiling.

Elise gave her a small smile before grabbing her bowl of ice cream.


	21. Chapter 21

“So, you chose this world. Well done. You got it right. And with only seconds left. Fair’s fair. Let’s warm you up”.

The power in the TARDIS came back on and the control room started to thaw.

“I hope you’ve enjoyed your little fictions. It all came out of your imagination, so I’ll leave you to ponder on that. I have been defeated. I shall withdraw. Farewell”. The Dream Lord disappeared.

The Doctor stood up and stumbled to the console.

“Something happened. I…What happened to me? I…” Rory stuttered.

Amy said nothing and hugged him.

“Oh. Oh, right. This is good. I am liking this. Was it something I said? Could you tell what it was so I can use it in emergencies, and maybe birthdays”.

The rotor started to move as the TARDIS made her signature wheezing noise.

“What are we doing now?” Amy asked the Doctor.

“Me? I’m going to blow up the TARDIS”.

“What?” Rory asked.

“Notice how helpful the Dream Lord was? Okay, there was misinformation, red herrings, malice, and I could have done without the limerick. But he was always very keen to make us choose between dream and reality”.

“What are you doing?” Amy asked.

“Doctor, the Dream Lord conceded. This isn’t a dream”, Rory told him.

“Yes, it is”.

“Stop him!” Amy yelled.

“Star burning cold? Do me a favor. The Dream Lord has no power over the real world”, the Doctor said, “He was offering us a choice between two dreams”.

“How do you know that?” Amy asked.

“Because I know who he is and he said he’d give Elise back. So where is she?”

The TARDIS exploded and suddenly they were back in the normal control room.

Rory and Amy entered the control room to find the Doctor looking at something in the palm of his hand.

“Any questions?” the Doctor asked.

“Er, what’s that?” Amy asked him.

“A speck of psychic pollen from the candle meadows of Karass don Slava. Must have been hanging around for ages. Fell in the time rotor, heated up and induced a dream state for all of us”. The Doctor opened the door to the TARDIS and blew it out into space.

“So that was the Dream Lord then?” Rory asked, “Those little specks”.

“No, no. No. Sorry, wasn’t it obvious? The Dream Lord was me. Psychic pollen. It’s a mind parasite. It feeds on everything dark in you, gives it a voice, turns it against you. I’m nine hundred and seven. It had a lot to go on”.

“But why didn’t it feed on us, too?” Amy asked.

“The darkness in you pair, it would’ve starved to death in an instant. I choose my friends with great care. Otherwise, I’m stuck with my own company, and you know how that works out”.

“But those things he said about you. You don’t think any of that’s true?”

“Amy, right now a question is about to occur to Rory. And seeing as the answer is about to change his life, I think you should give him your full attention”. The Doctor shoved Amy towards Rory and stepped back, giving them some space.

Elise’s eyes snapped open and she was in her bedroom in TARDIS. She jumped out of bed and ran into the control room as Amy was pulling away from Rory. She immediately went running up to Amy and wrapped her arms around the redhead’s legs.

“Hey what’s this all about?” Amy asked her, “So what about you, little miss? What did you dream about?”

Elise’s blue eyes filled with tears as she thought about it. Her father picked her and carried her over to the jump seat, where he set her down.

He placed his forehead against hers and his hearts broke as Elise played the dream back for him. “I’m sorry”, he said.

Elise shook her head and showed him all her happy memories with him.

The Doctor smiled. “You and me, eh? No matter what”, he said and Elise nodded.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he picked her back up.

“So, well then, where now?” the Doctor asked.

“I don’t know. Any where’s good for me. I’m happy anywhere. It’s up to Amy this time”, Rory told him, “Amy’s choice”.


	22. Chapter 22

“Behold, Rio!” the Doctor said throwing open the TARDIS doors.

They stepped out into a graveyard.

“Nu-uh”, Amy told him.

“Not really getting the sunshine carnival vibe”, Rory added.

“No? Ooo, feel that, though. What’s that?” the Doctor asked, jumping up and down, “Ground feels strange. Just me. Wait. That’s weird”.

Elise did the same, but couldn’t feel anything, but she did notice the patches of blue grass around them.

“What’s weird?” Rory asked.

“Doctor, stop trying to distract us. We’re in the wrong place. Doctor, it’s freezing and I’ve dressed for Rio. We are not stopping here”, Amy told him.

The Doctor ran around to the other side of the church, dragging Elise with him. At Amy’s insistence, the Doctor left the harness in the TARDIS allowing Elise a little bit more independence. But it would be a while before he let her out of his sight.

“Doctor. You listening to me? It’s a graveyard. You promised me a beach!”

The Doctor knelt down beside a patch of blue grass and pulled out a couple of blades. “Blue grass. Patches of it all around the graveyard. So, Earth, 2020-ish, ten years in your future, wrong continent for Rio, I’ll admit, but it’s not a massive overshoot”.

“Why are those people waving at us?” Amy asked.

Across the hill from them stood two people.

“Can’t be”, the Doctor said.

Rory waved back at them.

“Don't”, Amy told him.

The Doctor pulled out a pair of binoculars. “It is. It’s you two”.

“No, we’re here. How can we be up there?” Rory asked.

“Ten years in your future. Come to relive past glories, I’d imagine. Humans, you’re so nostalgic”.

“We’re still together in ten years?” Amy asked.

“No need to sound so surprised”, Rory told her.

“Hey, let’s go and talk to them. We can say hi to future us. How cool is that?”

“Er, no, best not. Really best not. These things get complicated very quickly, and oh look. Big mining thing. Oh, I love a big mining thing. See, way better than Rio. Rio doesn’t have a big mining thing”, the Doctor said.

“We’re not going to have a look, are we?” Amy asked.

“Let’s go and have a look. Come on, you two, let’s see what they’re doing”. The Doctor and Elise started down the hill towards the mining machine.

“Doctor!” Amy called after them.

When they reached the bottom of the hill, they found gates surrounding the mine.

“Restricted access. No unauthorized personnel”, the Doctor read, “Hmm”. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the lock.

It sparked and opened.

“That is breaking and entering!” Amy told him.

“What did I break? Sonicing and entering. Totally different”. The Doctor tossed the lock aside and Amy entered.

“Come on, then!”

“You’re sure Rory’ll catch us up?” he asked.

They entered the mining building and started to walk through a tunnel.

“What about now? Can you feel it now?” the Doctor asked. He looked down at Elise who shook her head. He sighed and knelt down in front of her. “Concentrate. Feel the ground beneath your feet. Tap into it”.

Elise closed her eyes and focused. Then it hit her. She could feel everything. The turn of the earth beneath her feet, the feeling of time slowly ticking by. Her eyes snapped open and met the Doctor’s.

He smiled and kissed her forehead.

“What are you on about?” Amy asked.

“The ground doesn’t feel like it should”, he told her.

“It’s ten years in the future. Maybe how this ground feels is how it always feels”.

“Good thought, but no, it doesn't”.

There was a whirring noise.

“Hear that, drill in start-up mode. Afterwaves of a recent seismological shift and blue grass”. The Doctor stuck the grass in his mouth, chewed for a second and spit it out.

“Oh, please. Have you always been this disgusting?” Amy asked.

“No, that’s recent. What’s in…”

They entered a store room.

“Here? Hello”.

“Who are you? What’re you doing here?” an Indian lady asked them. She looked at Amy. “And what’re you wearing?”

Amy rolled her eyes. “I dressed for Rio”.

The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper and flashed it at the woman. “Ministry of Drills, Earth and Science. New Ministry, quite big, just merged. It’s lot of responsibility on our shoulders. Don’t like to talk about it. What are you doing?”

“None of your business”.

The Doctor walked up to a couple of screens with readings on them. “Where are you getting these readings from?”

“Under the soil”, the woman said.

A man entered the room as the Doctor knelt down to run some soil through his fingers. “The drill’s up and running again. What’s going on? Who are these people?”

“Amy, the Doctor, Elise”, Amy introduced, “We’re not staying, are we, Doctor?”

“Why’s there a big patch of earth in the middle of your floor?” the Doctor asked.

“We don’t know. It just appeared overnight”, the woman said.

“Good. Right. You all need to get out of here very fast”. The Doctor started typing.

“Why?”

“What’s your name?”

“Nasreen Chaudhry”.

“Look at the screens, Nasreen. Look at your readings. It’s moving”.

The man came over to them as Amy and Elise watched mist start to rise from the hole in the ground.

“What is?” Nasreen asked.

“Doctor, this steam, is that a good thing?” Amy asked.

He turned to look at it. “Shouldn’t think so. It’s shifting when it shouldn’t be shifting”.

“What shouldn’t?” Nasreen asked, frustrated that the Doctor wasn’t answering any of her questions.

The room started to shake and the Doctor grabbed Elise, pulling her away from the hole. “The ground, the soil, the earth, moving. But how? Why?”

“Earthquake?” Amy asked.

“What’s going on?” the man asked.

“Doubt it, because it’s only happening under this room”, the Doctor said.

Five more holes appeared in the floor.

“It knows we’re here. It’s attacking. The ground’s attacking us”, the Doctor said.

“No, no that’s not possible”, Nasreen told him.

“Under the circumstances, I’d suggest, run!”

The Doctor, Elise, and Nasreen ran to the other side of the room as more holes opened up.

One of them grabbed the man.

“Tony!” Nasreen yelled.

“Stay back, Amy. Stay away from the earth”, the Doctor told her.

Amy didn’t listen and ran over to try and help him. “It’s okay”, Amy told him. A hole opened up and grabbed Amy by the feet. “It’s pulling me down!”

“Amy!” The Doctor ran forward to try and help her.

“Doctor, help me. Something’s got me”.

He grabbed Amy’s hand as he felt Elise grab a hold of the back of his jacket.

“Doctor, the ground’s got my legs”.

“I’ve got you”.

“Okay”.

Nasreen pulled Tony out of the ground.

“Don’t let go”, Amy told the Doctor.

“Never”.

“Doctor, what is it, and why is it doing this?”

“Stay calm. Keep hold of my hand. Don’t let go”. The Doctor turned to Nasreen and Tony. “Your drill, shut it down. Go. Now!”

They ran out as the Doctor and Elise held onto Amy.

“Can you get me out?” Amy asked.

“Amy, try and stay calm. If you struggle, it’ll make things worse. Keep hold of my hand. I’m not going to let you go”. The Doctor stood up and tried to pull Amy out, but fell backward and let go.

Amy slipped further down the hole. “Doctor, it’s pulling me down. Something’s pulling me!”

The Doctor grabbed her arm. “Stay calm. Now, hold on till they can just shut down the drill”.

“I can’t hold on!” Tears filled Amy’s eyes. “What’s pulling me? What is under the earth? I don’t want to suffocate under there”.

“Amy, concentrate. Don’t you give up”.

“Tell Rory…” Amy’s head was just barely above the soil.

“No. Amy! Amy, no!”

Amy let go and disappeared into the hole.

“No!” the Doctor yelled, digging at the soil.

Nasreen and Tony ran in as Elise wrapped her arms around the Doctor’s neck. He placed a hand on her back as he felt tears hitting his neck.

“Where is she?” Nasreen asked.

“She’s gone. The ground took her”, the Doctor told her. He stood up and paced as he tried to come up with a plan.

“Is that what happened to Mo? Are they dead?” Tony asked.

“It’s not quicksand. She didn’t just sink. Something pulled her in. It wanted her”.

“The ground wanted her?” Nasreen asked.

“You said the ground was dormant. Just a patch of earth, when you first saw it this morning. And the drill had been stopped”.

“That’s right”, Tony said.

“But when you re-started the drill, the ground fought back”.

“So what, the ground wants to stop us drilling? Doctor, that is ridiculous”, Nasreen told him.

The Doctor knelt down and soniced the hole. “I’m not saying that, and it’s not ridiculous, I just don’t think it’s right”. It suddenly hit him, “Oh, of course. It’s bio-programming”.

“What?” Nasreen asked.

“Bio-programming!” The Doctor stood up and clapped his hands together. “Oh, it’s clever. You use bio-signals to resonate the internal molecular structure of natural objects. It’s mainly used in engineering and construction, mostly jungle planets, but that’s way in the future and not here. What’s it doing here?”

“Sorry, did you just say jungle planets?” Nasreen asked.

“You’re not making any sense, man”, Tony said.

“Excuse me, I’m making perfect sense. You’re just not keeping up”, the Doctor told him.

Nasreen laughed and looked at Tony before crossing her arms over her chest.

“The earth, the ground beneath our feet, was bio-programmed to attack”.

“Yeah, even if that were possible, which, by the way, it’s not, why?” Nasreen asked.

“Stop you drilling. Okay, so we find whatever’s doing the bio-programming, we can find Amy. We can get her back”. He shushed them, hearing something.

Elise could hear it too.

“Have I gone mad? I’ve gone mad”.

“Doctor”, Nasreen said.

The Doctor shushed her. “Silence. Absolute silence. You’ve stopped the drill, right?”

“Yes”.

“And you’ve only got the one drill?”

“Yes”.

“You’re sure about that?”

“Yes”, Tony said.

The Doctor laid down on his stomach with his ear pressed to the ground. “So, if you shut the drill down, why can I still hear drilling? It’s under the ground”.

“That’s not possible”, Tony told him.

The Doctor jumped up and ran over to the computers, sonicing them.

“Oh no, what, what are you doing?” Nasreen asked.

“Hacking into your records. Probe reports, samples, sensors. Good. Just unite the data, make it all one big conversation. Let’s have a look. So, we are here and this is your drill hole. Twenty one point zero zero nine kilometers. Well done”.

“Thank you. It’s taken us a long time”.

“Why here, though? Why’d you drill on this site?”

“We found patches of grass in this area, containing trace minerals unseen in this country for twenty million years”.

“The blue grass? Oh, Nasreen. Those trace minerals weren’t X marking the spot, saying dig here. They were a warning. Stay away. Because while you’ve been drilling down, somebody else has been drilling up”.

A picture popped up on the screen.

“Oh, beautiful. Network of tunnels all the way down”, the Doctor said.

“No, no, we’ve surveyed that area”, Tony told him.

“You only saw what you went looking for”.

“What are they?” Nasreen asked, pointing to three dots.

“Heat signals. Wait, dual readings, hot and cold, doesn’t make sense. And now they’re moving. Fast. How many people live nearby?” the Doctor asked.

“Just my daughter and her family. The rest of the staff travel in”, Tony said.

“Grab this equipment and follow me”.

“Why? What’re we doing?” Nasreen asked.

“That noise isn’t a drill, it’s transport. Three of them, thirty kilometers down. Rate of speed looks about a hundred and fifty kilometers an hour. Should be here in ooo, quite soon. Twelve minutes. Whatever bio-programmed the Earth is on its way up, now”. The Doctor left the room, equipment in hand, with Elise following.


	23. Chapter 23

“How can something be coming up when there’s only the Earth’s crust down there?” Tony asked as they lugged the equipment down the road.

“You saw the readings”, the Doctor said.

“Who are you, anyway? How can you know all this?” Nasreen asked.

Red lightning appeared in the sky.

“Whoa, did you see that?” she asked.

“No, no, no”, the Doctor said, pulling out a slingshot. He picked up a stone and fired it into the air. It hit a barrier and disappeared. The Doctor soniced the barrier, making it more pronounced. “Energy signal originating from under the Earth. We’re trapped”.

Rory ran up to them. “Doctor, something weird’s going on here, the graves are eating people”.

“Not now, Rory. Energy barricade, invisible to the naked eye. We can’t get out and no one from the outside world can get in”.

“What? Okay, what about the TARIDS?”

“The what?” Nasreen asked.

“Er, no. Those energy patterns would play havoc with the circuits. With a bit of time, maybe, but we’ve only got nine and a half minutes”, the Doctor said.

“Nine and a half minutes to what?” Rory asked.

“We’re trapped, and something’s burrowing towards the surface”, Nasreen told him.

Rory noticed that a certain red-haired woman was missing. “Where’s Amy?”

“Get everyone inside the church”.

Everyone hurried towards the church as the Doctor looked at Rory. “Rory, I’ll get her back”.

“What do you mean, get her back? Where’s she gone?”

“She was taken. Into the Earth”.

“How? Why didn’t you stop it?”

“I tried. I promise, I tried”.

“Well, you should’ve tried harder!”

“I’ll find Amy. I’ll keep you all safe, I promise. Come on, please. I need you alongside me”. The Doctor walked off and grabbed the equipment.

Elise walked up to Rory and took his hand in hers and they made their way to the church.

They entered the church and stood off to the side as Tony, Nasreen, and the Doctor set up the equipment.

“So we can’t get out, we can’t contact anyone, and something, the something that took my husband, is coming up through the Earth”, Ambrose, Tony’s daughter, said.

“Yes. If we move quickly enough, we can be ready”, the Doctor told her.

“No, stop. This has gone far enough. What is this?”

“He’s telling the truth, love”, Tony said, trying to calm his daughter.

“Come on. It’s not the first time we’ve had no mobile or phone signals. Reception’s always rubbish”.

“Look, Ambrose. We saw the Doctor’s friend get taken, okay? You saw the lightning in the sky. I have seen the impossible today, and the only person who’s made any sense of it for me, is the Doctor”, Nasreen said.

“Him?”

The Doctor popped up. “Me!”

“Can you get my dad back?” Elliot, Ambrose’s son, asked.

“Yes. But I need you to trust me and do exactly as I say from this second onwards, because we’re running out of time”.

“So tell us what to do”, Ambrose said.

“Thank you”. The Doctor checked his watch. “We have eight minutes to set up a line of defense. Bring me every phone, every camera, every piece of recording or transmitting equipment you can find”.

As the adults went to work, Elliot walked over to Elise. “Hi. I’m Elliot”, he said.

Elise just smiled and waved. She pointed to her neck and shook her head.

“That’s okay”, he told her.

The adults entered the church again and the Doctor checked the screens. “Right, guys, we need to be ready for whatever’s coming up. I need a map of the village marking where the cameras are going”, the Doctor told Elliot.

“I can’t do the words. I’m dyslexic”.

“Oh, that’s all right, I can’t make a decent meringue. Draw like your life depends on it, Elliot”.

Elliot smiled and ran to go get started on his map.

“Elise, why don’t you go with him?” the Doctor suggested.

She looked up at him apprehensively before he nodded and nudged her. She hardly ever got to interact with children while on adventures and this could be good for her. She walked outside and found Elliot.

“Oh hey. Did you want to draw too?” he asked her. He gave her a piece of paper and a couple of crayons.

Elise didn’t know what to draw so she settled for the Doctor. She grabbed a brown crayon and started drawing.

When Elliot finished his map they went inside. Elliot handed the map to the Doctor.

“Look at that. Perfect. Dyslexia never stopped Da Vinci or Einstein. It’s not stopping you”, the Doctor told him.

“I don’t understand what you’re going to do”.

“Two phase plan. First, the sensors and cameras will tell us when something arrives. Second, if something does arrive, I use this…” The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. “…to send a sonic pulse through that network of devices. A pulse which would temporarily incapacitate most things in the universe”.

“Knock ‘em out. Cool”.

“Lovely place to grow up round here”.

“Suppose. I want to live in a city one day. Soon as I’m old enough, I’ll be off”.

“I was the same where I grew up”.

“Did you get away?”

“Yeah”.

“Do you ever miss it?”

The Doctor looked at Elise with her big blue eyes and said, “So much”.

“Is it monsters coming? Have you met monsters before?”

“Yeah”.

“You scared of them?”

“No, they’re scared of me”.

“Will you really get my dad back?”

“No question”.

“I left my headphones at home”.

The Doctor waved his hand as Elliot left them. “Now, what did you draw Elise?” he asked.

She showed him the picture and he frowned.

“Who is that supposed to be?”

She pointed at him and he smiled. She’d drawn his previous regeneration with his brown pinstripe suit. It was a child’s drawing, but it was very advanced for her age. It was better than most 5 year olds could draw. He kissed her head and said, “It’s beautiful. I’ll put it up in the TARDIS when we get back, okay?” The Doctor left Elise in the church to go check on Rory.

The ground started shaking and Elise fought the urge to cry.

Finally the church door opened and the Doctor, Rory, and Ambrose came running in.

“See if we can get a fix”, the Doctor said running over to the equipment.

The lights all exploded and Elise screamed.

Rory picked her up and tried to calm her. “

No power”, Tony said, flipping the light switch.

“It’s deliberate”, the Doctor told them.

“What do we do now?” Rory asked.

“Nothing. We’ve got nothing. They sent an energy surge to wreck our systems”.

“Is everyone okay? Is anyone hurt?”

“I’m fine”, Nasreen said.

“Me too”, Ambrose told him.

The ground vibrated again.

“Doctor, what was that?” Rory asked.

“It’s like the holes at the drill station”, Tony said.

“Is this how they happened?” Nasreen asked.

The Doctor pressed his ear to the ground. “It’s coming through the final layer of Earth”.

“What is?”

Suddenly, all they could hear was silence.

“The banging’s stopped”, Tony said.

Ambrose looked around the room. “Where’s Elliot? Has anyone seen Elliot? Did he come in? Was he in when the door was shut? Who counted him back in? Who saw him last?”

“I did”, the Doctor said. He’d made a mistake in taking his eyes off the boy. As a parent, he knew the kind of panic she was feeling. It was why he always kept Elise by his side if he could.

“Where is he?”

“He said he was going to get headphones”.

“And you let him go? He was out there on his own!”

“Mum! Grandpa Tony! Let me in!” Elliot yelled from outside.

“Elliot!” Ambrose yelled, running to the door.

“Let me in!”

“He’s out there. Help me!”

Nasreen and Tony tried pulling on the door handle.

“Open the door. Mum! There’s something out here”.

“Push, Elliot. Push, Elliot. Give it a shove”.

“Mum. Hurry up. Mum”.

The door finally opened and Ambrose rushed out. “Elliot! Where is he? He was here. He was here. Elliot!” Ambrose went running into the graveyard.

“Ambrose, don’t go running off!” the Doctor told her.

Her father ran after her. “Ambrose!”

They heard Ambrose scream and the Doctor ran towards them.

“What happened?” he asked.

“My dad’s hurt”, Ambrose said.

“Get him into the church now”.

“Elliot’s gone. They’ve killed him, haven’t they?”

“I don’t think so. They’ve taken three people when they could’ve just killed them up here. There’s still hope, Ambrose. There is always hope”.

“Then why have they taken him?”

“I don’t know. I’ll find Elliot, I promise. But first I’ve got to stop this attack. Please, get inside the church”.

“Come on, Dad”.

“Elise, go with them and wait for us”.

Elise nodded and followed Ambrose and her father to the church.

“You’re going to what?” Rory asked.

“I’m going to go down below the surface, to find the rest of the tribe, to talk to them”, the Doctor said.

“You’re going to negotiate with these aliens?” Ambrose asked.

“They’re not aliens. They’re Earth-liens. Once known as the Silurian race, or, some would argue, Eocenes, or Homo Reptilia. Not monsters, not evil. Well, only as evil as you are. The previous owners of the planet, that’s all. Look, from their point of view, you’re the invaders. Your drill was threatening their settlement. Now, the creature in the crypt. Her name’s Alaya. She’s one of their warriors, and she’s my best bargaining chip. I need her alive. If she lives, so do Elliot and Mo and Amy, because I will find them. While I’m gone, you four people, in this church, in this corner of planet Earth, you have to be the best of humanity”.

“And what if they come back? Shouldn’t we be examining this creature? Dissecting it, finding its weak points?” Tony asked.

“No dissecting, no examining. We return their hostage, they return ours, nobody gets harmed. We can land this together, if you are the best you can be. You are decent, brilliant people. Nobody dies today. Understand?”

Nasreen applauded which made Elise smile. The Doctor and Elise made their way to the TARDIS and Nasreen followed.

“No, sorry, no. What are you doing?” the Doctor asked her.

“Coming with you, of course. What is it, some kind of transport pod?”

“Sort of, but you’re not coming with us”.

Tony walked up to them. “He’s right. You’re not”.

“I have spent all my life excavating the layers of this planet, and now you want me to stand back while you head down into it? I don’t think so”, Nasreen said.

Elise liked her.

The Doctor checked his watch. “I don’t have time to argue”.

“I thought we were in a rush”.

“It’ll be dangerous”.

“Eh, so’s crossing the road”.

“Oh, for goodness sake. All right, then. Come on”.

The Doctor and Elise entered the TARDIS, Nasreen following.

“Welcome aboard the TARDIS. Now, don’t touch anything. Very precious”, the Doctor told her.

“No way. But…but that's…this is fantastic! What does it do?”

“Everything. I’m hoping, if we’re going down, that barricade won’t interfere”.

The TARDIS started to shake.

“Did you touch something?” the Doctor asked.

“No. Isn’t this what it does?”

“I’m not doing anything. We’ve been hijacked. I can’t stop it. They must’ve sensed the electro-magnetic field”.

The Doctor grabbed onto the monitor, while Elise held onto his legs.

“They’re pulling the TARDIS down into the Earth”.

The TARDIS came to a stop and all three of them collapsed to the glass floor.

“Where are we?” Nasreen asked.

They left the TARDIS.

“Looks like we fell through the bottom of their tunnel system. Don’t suppose it was designed for handling something like this”, the Doctor said.

“How far down are we?” Nasreen asked.

“Oh, a lot more than twenty one kilometers”.

“So why aren’t we burning alive?”

“Don’t know. Interesting, isn’t it?”

“It’s like this is every day to you”.

“Not every day. Every other day”. The Doctor ran down a tunnel, Elise and Nasreen following. “We’re looking for a small tribal settlement probably housing around a dozen Homo Reptilia? Maybe less”, the Doctor told them.

Nasreen found a side passage. “One small tribe?” she asked.

“Yeah”, the Doctor said.

“Maybe a dozen?”

The Doctor and Elise followed her and looked down into a huge chamber. “Ah. Maybe more than a dozen. Maybe more like an entire civilization living beneath the Earth…”


	24. Chapter 24

The Doctor, Elise, and Nasreen walked down one of the walkways, keeping an eye out for Amy and the others.

“This place is enormous and deserted. The majority of the race are probably still asleep. We need to find Amy”, the Doctor said. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver. “Looking for heat signature anomalies”.

“But Doctor, how can all this be here?” Nasreen asked, “I mean, these plants”.

“Must be getting closer to the center of the city”.

They turned down a tunnel.

“You’re sure this is the best way to enter?”

“Front door approach. Definitely. Always the best way”.

An alarm started to go off. “Hostile life forms detected area seventeen”, a computer generated voice announced.

“Apart from the back door approach. That’s also good. Sometimes better”, the Doctor added.

“Hostile life forms detected area seventeen”.

“Doctor”, Nasreen said as warriors surrounded them.

The Doctor pushed Elise behind him.

“Hostile life forms detected area seventeen”.

The Doctor threw up his hands in surrender. “We’re not hostile. We’re not armed. We’re here in peace”.

A warrior stepped forward and sprayed gasses into their faces.

Elise fought to stay conscious and passed out as she felt someone pick her up.

The Doctor cried out in pain as he was being scanned.

“I’m decontaminating now”, Malohkeh said turning a key.

“Decontamination? No, no, no!” the Doctor yelled, “No!”

The decontamination hurt even more than the scan.

“It’s all right, it won’t harm you. I’m only neutralizing all your ape bacteria”, Malohkeh told him.

“I’m not an ape. Look at the scans. Two hearts. Totally different. Totally not ape! Remove all human germs, you remove half the things keeping me alive!”

Malohkeh turned off the machine.

“No, complete the process”, the other Silurian told him.

“Oh, that’s much better, thanks. Not got any celery, have you? No. No, not really the climate. Tomatoes, though. You’d do a roaring trade in those. I’m the Doctor”, the Doctor said. He looked over and saw Nasreen right next to him. “Oh, and there’s Nasreen. Good”.

Nasreen opened her eyes and looked at Malohkeh. “Oh, a green man”.

“Hello. Who are you?” the Doctor asked the female Silurian.

“Restac, Military commander”, she said.

“Oh dear, really? There’s always a military, isn’t there?”

“Your weapon was attacking the oxygen pockets above our city”, Malohkeh said.

“Oxygen pockets, lovely. Ooo, but not so good with an impending drill. Now it makes sense”.

“Where is the rest of your invasion force?” Restac asked.

“Invasion force. Me, Elise, and lovely Nasreen? No. We came for the humans you took and my daughter”. The thought of getting Elise back was the only thing keeping him calm. They wouldn’t give her back if he lost his temper. “And to offer the safe return of Alaya. Oh wait, you and she, what is it, same genetic source? Of course you’re worried, but don’t be, she’s safe”.

“You claim to come in peace, but you hold one of us hostage”, Restac said, signaling her warriors.

“Wait, wait, we all want the same thing here!”

“I don’t negotiate with apes. I’m going to send a clear message to those on the surface”.

“What’s that?”

“Your execution”.

“Ah”.

After calming down the situation and being let go from their restraints, the Doctor said, “I’d say you’ve got a fair bit to talk about”.

“How so?” Eldane, the leader of this particular Silurian tribe, asked. “You both want the planet. You both have a genuine claim to it”.

“Are you authorized to negotiate on behalf of humanity?”

“Me? No. But they are”. The Doctor gestured to Nasreen and Amy.

“What?” Nasreen asked.

“No, we’re not”, Amy said.

“Course you are”, the Doctor told them, “Amy Pond and Nasreen Chaudhry, speaking for the planet? Humanity couldn’t have better ambassadors. Come on, who has more fun than us?”

“Is this what happens, in the future? The planet gets shared? Is that what we need to do?” Amy asked.

“Er, what are you talking about?” Nasreen asked, not sure what the ginger girl was talking about.

“Oh Nasreen, sorry. Probably worth mentioning at this stage, Amy and I travel in time a bit”, the Doctor said.

“Anything else?”

“There are fixed points through time where things must always stay the way they are. This is not one of them. This is an opportunity. A temporal tipping point. Whatever happens today, will change future events, create its own timeline, its own reality. The future pivots around you, here, now. So do good, for humanity, and for Earth”.

“Right. No pressure there, then”, Amy said.

“We can’t share the planet. Nobody on the surface is going to go for this idea. It is just too big a leap”, Nasreen told him.

“Come on. Be extraordinary”.

“Oh, you…” Nasreen finally sighed and sat down.

“Okay”. The Doctor tapped on the table. “Bringing things to order. The first meeting of representatives of the human race and Homo Reptilia is now in session. Ha! Never said that before. That’s fab. Carry on. Now, Mo. Let’s go and get your son and my daughter”. The Doctor and Mo followed Malohkeh into the tunnels.

They came to one stasis pod first.

“Elise!”

“She’s perfectly fine”, Malohkeh reassured him. He unlocked the pod and detached Elise from the wires.

Elise opened her eyes. Her hazy blue ones met the green ones of her father. She smiled as she stumbled into his arms.

“Woah”, the Doctor said, catching her.

She looked up at him and he brushed the brown curls from her face.

“Hey there”. He pressed a kiss to her forehead before picking her up and carrying her.

They came to a second stasis pod in which Elliot stood.

“If you’ve harmed him in any way”, Mo said.

“Of course not. I only store the young”, Malohkeh told him.

“But why?” the Doctor asked.

“I took samples of the young, slowed their life-cycles to a millionth of their normal rate so I could study how they grew, what they needed, how they lived on the surface”.

“You’ve been down here working by yourself, all alone?”

“My family, through the millennia, and for the last three hundred years, just me. I never meant to harm your children”.

“Malohkeh, I rather love you”. He placed a fist on top of Malohkeh’s and Malohkeh bumped it with both of his fists.

Malohkeh opened the stasis pod and unhooked Elliot like he had with Elise. “Come”.

Mo entered the pod. “Elliot? Ell, it’s Dad”.

“Dad?”

The two hugged.

“You’re safe now”, Mo told him.

“Where are we?”

“Well, I’ve got to be honest with you, son. We’re in the center of the Earth, and there are lizard men”. Elliot looked outside and saw Malohkeh and the Doctor standing there.

“Hi”, Malohkeh said.

“Wow”, Elliot breathed.

The Doctor entered the pod. “Elliot. I’m sorry. I took my eye off you”.

“It’s okay. I forgive you”.

The four of them started to make their way back to the courtroom.

“You go on, Doctor. I’ll catch up”, Malohkeh told them.

They entered the courtroom and they caught the tail-end of the discussion.

The Doctor started clapping. “Not bad for a first session. More similarities than differences”, the Doctor told them.

A noise came from the hallway.

“The transport has returned. Your friends are here”, Eldane said.

Rory appeared in the doorway followed by Ambrose and Tony, who was carrying something wrapped in a blanket.

“Mum!” Elliot yelled, running to his mother.

“Rory!” Amy said happily.

“Something’s wrong”, the Doctor said, seeing the object Tony was carrying.

“Doctor, what’s he carrying?” Amy asked.

“No. Don’t do this. Tell me you didn’t do this”.

Tony laid Alaya on the floor.

“What did you do?” the Doctor asked.

“It was me. I did it”, Ambrose confessed.

“Mum?” Elliot asked, not believing his mother had actually killed someone. He shrugged off her arms and walked over to his father.

“I just wanted you back”, Ambrose told him.

The Doctor turned to Eldane. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. You have to believe me, they’re better than this”.

“This is our planet!” Ambrose yelled.

“We had a chance here”.

“Leave us alone”.

“In future, when you talk about this, you tell people there was a chance but you were so much less than the best of humanity”.

Restac and her warriors came into the courtroom. “My sister!” She saw Alaya’s body lying on the floor and knelt down next to it. She pulled back the blanket and let out a mournful cry.

It broke Elise’s heart. Her mind went back to Gallifrey. Hearing mothers crying over their children and dead family members. She grabbed the Doctor’s hand for comfort.

“And you want us to trust these apes, Doctor?” Restac asked.

“One woman. She was scared for her family. She is not typical”. R

estac stood up and faced Ambrose. “I think she is”.

“One person let us down, but there is a whole race of dazzling, peaceful human beings up there. You were building something here. Come on. An alliance could work”.

“It’s too late for that, Doctor”, Ambrose said.

“Why?”

“Our drill is set to start burrowing again in fifteen minutes”.

“What?” Nasreen asked.

“What choice did I have? They had Elliot”, Tony told her.

“Don’t do this. Don’t call their bluff”, the Doctor said.

“Let us go back. And you promise to never come to the surface ever again. We’ll walk away, leave you alone”, Ambrose said.

“Execute her”, Restac ordered.

“No!” the Doctor yelled. He grabbed Ambrose and said, “Everybody, back to the lab. Run!”

Rory grabbed Elise and took off running.

“Take everyone to the lab”, the Doctor told Eldane, “I’ll cover you”.


	25. Chapter 25

They made it to the laboratory and the Doctor sealed the door. “Elliot, you and your dad keep your eyes on that screen. Let me know if we get company”. The Doctor tossed the stopwatch to Amy. “Amy, keep reminding me how much time I haven’t got”.

“Okay. Um, er, twelve minutes till drill impact”, Amy told him.

The Doctor walked up to Tony. “Tony Mack. Sweaty forehead, dilated pupils. What are you hiding?”

Tony opened his shirt to reveal green veins crawling up his neck.

“Tony, what happened?” Nasreen asked.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pressed it to the veins, scanning them.

“Alaya’s sting. She said there’s no cure. I’m dying, aren’t I?” Tony asked.

The Doctor transferred the results to the machine in front of him. “You’re not dying, you’re mutating”.

“How can I stop it?”

“Decontamination program. Might work. Don’t know. Eldane, can you run the program on Tony?” Eldane nodded and helped Tony into one of the decontamination pods.

“Doctor, shedload of those creatures coming our way. We’re surrounded in here”, Mo told him.

“So, question is, how we do stop the drill given we can’t get there in time? Plus, also, how do we get out, given that we’re surrounded? Nasreen, how do you feel about an energy pulse channeled up through the tunnels to the base of the drill?”

“To blow up my life’s work?”

“Yes. Sorry. No nice way of putting that”.

“Right, well, you’re going to have to do it before the drill hits the city, in…”

“Eleven minutes forty seconds”, Amy supplied.

“Yes. Squeaky bum time!” the Doctor said, running over to the controls.

“Yes, but the explosion is going to cave in all the surrounding tunnels, so we have to be out and on the surface by then”, Nasreen told him.

“But we can’t get past Restac’s troops”, Rory reminded them.

“I can help with that. Toxic Fumigation. An emergency failsafe meant to protect my species from infection. A warning signal to occupy cryo-chambers. After that, citywide fumigation by toxic gas. Then the city shuts down”, Eldane said.

The Doctor turned away from him and ran a hand through his hair.

“You could end up killing your own people”, Amy told him.

“Only those foolish enough to follow Restac”.

Elise walked over to the Doctor and took his hand in hers. He gave her a soft smile. She was so innocent and didn’t understand. He was the one who had killed the Timelords. Her family. Her. He’d have to tell her eventually.

“Eldane, are you sure about this?” he asked. Someone else was about to make the same decision he did.

“My priority is my race’s survival. The Earth isn’t ready for us to return yet”.

“No”.

“Ten minutes, Doctor”, Amy told him.

“But maybe it should be. So, here’s a deal. Everybody listening. Eldane, you activate shutdown. I’ll amend the system, set your alarm for a thousand years time. A thousand years to sort the planet out. To be ready. Pass it on. As legend, or prophesy, or religion, but somehow make it known. This planet is to be shared”.

“Yeah. I get you”, Elliot told him.

“Nine minutes, seven seconds”, Amy said.

The Doctor rushed over to the controls. “Yes. Fluid controls, my favorite. Energy pulse. Timed, primed and set. Before we go, energy barricade. Need to cancel it out quickly”. He soniced the controls.

“Fumigation pre-launching”, Eldane said.

“There’s not much time for us to get from here to the surface, Doctor”, Rory told him.

“Ah ha, super-squeaky bum time. Get ready to run for your lives. Now”.

“But the decontamination program on your friend hasn’t started yet”, Eldane said.

“Well, go. All of you, go”, Tony told them.

“No, we’re not leaving you here”, Ambrose said.

“Granddad!” Elliot yelled, running to him.

“Eight minutes ten seconds”, Amy said.

The small family said their goodbyes as the toxic fumigation started.

Amy checked the screen. “They’re going. We’re clear”.

“Okay, everyone follow Nasreen. Look for a blue box. Get ready to run”, the Doctor told them. He soniced the door and it opened. “I’m sorry”, the Doctor told Eldane.

“I thought for a moment, our race and the humans…”

“Yeah, me too”.

“Doctor, we’ve got less than six minutes”, Amy told him.

“Go. Go! I’m right behind you!”

Elise wanted to wait for her father, but Rory grabbed her arm.

“He’s coming. Come on”, he said.

Elise nodded and took Rory’s hand as they ran for the TARDIS.

“Toxic fumigation is about to commence. Immediate evacuation”.

They finally made it to the TARDIS and the Doctor unlocked the door. “No questions, just get in. And yes, I know, it’s big. Ambrose, sickbay up the stairs, left, then left again, Get yourself fixed up”.

Mo, Elliot, and Ambrose ran inside.

The Doctor turned and they saw a crack in the wall.

The one that had been following them around the universe.

“Not here. Not now. It’s getting wider”, the Doctor said.

“The crack on my bedroom wall”.

“And the Byzantium. All through the universe, rips in the continuum. Some sort of space-time cataclysm. An explosion, maybe. Big enough to put cracks in the universe. But what?”

Amy checked the stopwatch. “Four minutes fifty. We have to go”.

“The Angels laughed when I didn’t know. Prisoner Zero knew. Everybody knows except me”.

“Doctor, just leave it”.

“But where there’s an explosion, there’s shrapnel”. He pulled out a red handkerchief and ran over to the crack.

“Doctor, you can’t put your hand in there!” Rory told him, holding Elise back.

“Why not?” The Doctor stuck his hand in the crack immediately cried out in pain.

Elise tried to run towards her father, but Amy grabbed her other arm.

“Argh. I’ve got something!” the Doctor yelled.

“What is it?” Amy asked.

He pulled his arm out, the piece of shrapnel in the handkerchief. “I don’t know”.

“Doctor?” Rory asked.

They turned and saw Restac crawling towards them.

“She was there when the gas started. She must have been poisoned”, Amy said.

“You”, Restac said, trying to lift her gun.

“Okay, get in the TARDIS, all three of you”, the Doctor told them.

“You did this”, Restac hissed. She raised her gun to shoot the Doctor.

“Doctor!” Rory yelled. He pushed the Doctor out of the way and got hit.

“Rory!” Amy screamed, dropping to her knees beside him.

The Doctor knelt on the other side of him. “Rory, can you hear me?” he asked.

“I don’t understand”, Rory said.

“Shush. Don’t talk. Doctor, is he okay?” Amy asked, “We have to get him onto the TARDIS”.

“We were on the hill. I can’t die here”.

Elise sat down next to her father and grabbed Rory’s hand. “Rrrry”, she said. It had been so long since she had spoken that she couldn’t make her mouth form the rest of the letters. “Rrrry”.

“Don’t say that”, Amy told him.

“You’re so beautiful. I’m sorry”.

With that, Rory took his last breath and stopped moving.

“Doctor, help him”, Amy said.

The light from the crack crept towards Rory’s feet.

“Amy, Elise, move away from the light. If it touches you, you’ll be wiped from history. Amy, move away now”, the Doctor told her.

“No! I am not leaving him! We have to help him!”

“The light’s already around him. We can’t help him”.

“I am not leaving him”.

“We have to”.

“No!”

“I’m sorry”. The Doctor grabbed Amy and pulled her away from Rory.

“Get off me!” Amy screamed through her tears.

The Doctor dragged Amy to the TARDIS, Elise following.

“No!” Amy yelled as the Doctor closed the door, sonicing the lock. Amy continued to scream as she pounded on the door. “No! No! No! No! Let me out. Please let me out. I need to get to Rory. That light. If his body’s absorbed, I’ll forget him. He’ll never have existed. You can’t let that happen”.

The Doctor pulled a lever and the TARDIS engines started up.

Amy ran up to the platform. “What are you doing? Doctor, no! No! No! No!”

The Doctor grabbed the hysterical woman and pulled her away from the console. If the Doctor hadn’t been so worried about Amy, he would have noticed how Elise was staring at the TARDIS door with a blank look on her face.

In the future, it would be something that frequently happened when she was unable to process what she was feeling. She would just space out until someone brought her back to the present.

The TARDIS landed roughly, knocking the three of them to the floor.

“What were you saying?” Amy asked.

Mo and Elliot came down the stairs. “I have seen some things today, but this is beyond mad”, Mo said.

Amy grabbed the stopwatch. “Doctor. Five seconds till it all goes up”.

They all ran outside in time to see the drilling machine explode.

“All Nasreen’s work just erased”, Amy said as they walked back to the church.

“Good thing she’s not here to see it. She’s going to give Tony hell when they wake up”, Mo said.

Amy nudged Elise towards Elliot.

Elise walked up to the boy.

“You’re going then?” Elliot asked.

Elise nodded.

“Do you think you’ll ever come back?” he asked.

Elise shrugged.

“Goodbye then”, he said. He leaned forward and kissed Elise on the cheek, causing the young Timelord to blush.

She walked back over to Amy who teased her, “Aww. Elise has a crush!”

The Doctor walked up to the two of them and picked Elise up. She nuzzled his neck with her face and grabbed onto his bowtie as they walked back to the TARDIS.

“You’re very quiet”, Amy told the Doctor.

Across the hill there stood only one figure, unlike earlier.

“Oh. Hey, look. There I am again. Hello, me”, Amy said, waving. She then got very sad.

“Are you okay?” the Doctor asked.

“I thought I saw someone else there for a second. I need a holiday. Didn’t we talk about Rio?”

The Doctor set Elise down. “You two go in. Just fix this lock. Keeps jamming”, he said, pretending to have trouble opening the door.

“You boys and your locksmithery”, Amy said, entering the TARDIS.

Elise looked at her father for a second. He was hiding something, but what, she didn’t know.

“Go on”, he told her.

She entered the TARDIS and went to her room, where she finally allowed herself to cry and mourn for Rory. She had just started to like him and now he was gone. She had many questions, but her number one was this: Would it always hurt like this?


	26. Chapter 26

Amy, Elise, and the Doctor walked through the Musée d'Orsay. The trip was a treat for both Amy and Elise.

Elise, because she had recently discovered she liked drawing and painting, and Amy, because there were still times where tears would fall down her face and she had no idea why.

They entered a gallery filled with sculptures and Elise walked over to one. Elise reached out to touch the sculpture, but the Doctor grabbed her hand.

“Don’t touch”, he told her.

They moved into the next gallery.

Elise once again reached out to touch something.

The Doctor grabbed her hand again and knelt down in front of her. “I told you not to touch”.

Elise glared at him.

“You touch something again and we’re going back to the TARDIS. Do you understand?”

Elise tried pulling her wrist out of the Doctor’s grasp.

“Elise? Do you understand me?” he asked her, not letting go.

Amy just giggled at the standoff between the two Timelords.

“This isn’t funny, Amelia”, the Doctor said, not taking his eyes off Elise.

“Doctor, she’s a child. They always do the opposite of what you tell them”.

“There are rules. She needs to learn them”.

Amy knelt down in front of the small girl and said, “Next time, we’ll go to a children’s museum okay? Then you can play and touch as much as you’d like”.

Elise’s eyes went wide and she nodded excitedly.

“See?” Amy said turning to the Doctor.

“Elise, if you don’t touch anything else, we’ll go okay?”

She nodded and he let go of her.

“You know, you probably should have brought her bear or something or at least let her bring her sketchbook”, Amy said, “River would have known what to do”.

The Doctor rolled his eyes at the mention of the bushy haired woman.

They finally entered the Vincent Van Gogh gallery since Van Gogh was one of Amy’s favorite painters.

“Thanks for bringing me”, Amy told the Doctor.

“You’re welcome”.

“You’re being so nice to me. Why are you being so nice to me?”

“I’m always nice to you”.

“Not like this. These places you’re taking me. Arcadia, the Trojan Gardens, now this. I think it’s suspicious”.

“What? It’s not. There’s nothing to be suspicious about”.

“Okay, I was joking. Why aren’t you?”

The three of them stopped to watch a tour guide.

“Each of these pictures now is worth tens of millions of pounds, yet in his lifetime he was a commercial disaster. Sold only one painting, and that to the sister of a friend. We have here possibly the greatest artist of all time, but when he died you could sold his entire body of work and got about enough money to buy a sofa and a couple of chairs. If you follow me now…”

“Who is it?” a child’s voice asked.

“It’s the doctor”, another answered.

The three of them turned around to find two small boys standing in front of a painting.

“He was the doctor who took care of Van Gogh when he started to go mad”.

“I knew that”.

“Look!” Amy said, grabbing the Doctor’s hand. She pulled him over a painting of a church. “There it is. The actual one”.

“Yes. You can almost feel his hand painting it right in front of you, carving the colors into shapes…” The Doctor’s eyes zeroed in on something in the painting. “Wait a minute”.

“What?” Amy asked.

The Doctor pointed to something in the window. “Well, just look at that”.

“What?”

The Doctor ruffled the back of his hair, nervously. This was supposed to be a calm trip, but it was quickly turning into something else. “Something very not good indeed”, he said.

“What thing very not good?” Amy asked.

“Look there, in the window of the church”.

In the window was an odd looking monster.

“Is it a face?”

“Yes. And not a nice face at all. I know evil when I see it and I see it in that window”.

The Doctor walked over to the tour guide and pulled out his psychic paper. “Excuse me. If I can just interrupt for one second. Sorry, everyone. Routine inspection, Ministry of Art and Artiness. So, er…”

“Doctor Black”, the tour guide said.

“Yes, that’s right. Do you know when that picture of the church was painted?”

“Ah, well, ah, well, what an interesting question. Most people imagine…”

“I’m going to have to hurry you. When was it?”

“Exactly?”

“As exactly as you can. Without a long speech, if poss. I’m in a hurry”.

“Well, in that case, probably somewhere between the first and third of June”.

“What year?”

“1890. Less than a year before…before he killed himself”.

“Thank you, sir. Very helpful indeed. Nice bow-tie. Bow-ties are cool”.

“Yours is very…”

“Oh, thank you. Keep telling them stuff”.

The Doctor turned around and grabbed Amy’s hand. “We need to go”.

“What about the other pictures?” she asked.

“Art can wait. This is life and death. We need to talk to Vincent Van Gogh”.

The Doctor lightly shoved Amy towards the exit.

Elise hesitated, looking back at all the paintings.

“We’ll come back”, the Doctor told her, softly, “Promise”. He made two crossing motions over his hearts.

Finally, Elise took his hand and let him lead her back to the TARDIS.

They stepped out into an alleyway.

“Right, so, here’s the plan. We find Vincent and he leads us straight to the church and our nasty friend”, the Doctor said.

“Easy peasy”, Amy told him as they made their way out of the alley.

“Well, no. I suspect nothing will be easy with Mister Van Gogh. Now, he’ll probably be in the local cafe. Sort of orangey light, chairs and tables outside”.

Amy opened her guide book and flipped to a painting of an outdoor café. “Like this?”

“That’s the one”.

They looked up and saw the café in front of them.

“Or indeed like that”, Amy said.

“Yeah, exactly like that”. The Doctor walked up to the café, Elise and Amy following behind. “Good evening. Does the name Vincent Van Gogh ring a bell?”

“Don’t mention that man to me”, a man said storming back inside.

“Excuse me. Do you know Vincent Van Gogh?” the Doctor asked the waitresses.

“Unfortunately”.

“Unfortunately?” Amy asked.

“He’s drunk, he’s mad and he never pays his bills”.

“Good painter, though, eh?” the Doctor asked them.

The waitresses laughed.

The Doctor sat down in a chair, placing Elise in the one beside him.

“Come on! Come on! One painting for one drink. That’s not a bad deal”, they heard.

Vincent Van Gogh and the man from before stepped outside.

Both the Doctor and Amy smiled with excitement at seeing him.

Elise would have too if she had known more about him.

“It wouldn’t be a bad deal if the painting were any good. I can’t hang that up on my walls. It’d scare the customers half to death. It’s bad enough having you in here in person, let alone looming over the customers day and night in a stupid hat. You pay money or you get out”.

“I’ll pay, if you like”, the Doctor said.

“What?”

“Well, if you like, I’ll pay for the drink. Or I’ll pay for the painting and you can use the money to pay for the drink”.

“Exactly who are you?” Vincent asked.

“Oh, I’m new in town”.

“Well, in that case, you don’t know three things. One, I pay for my own drinks, thank you”.

Everyone around him laughed.

“Two, no one ever buys any of my paintings or they would be laughed out of town. So if you want to stay in town, I suggest you keep your cash to yourself. And three, your friend’s cute, but you should keep your big nose out of other people’s business”. Vincent turned back to the manager of the bar. “Come on, just one more drink. I’ll pay tomorrow”.

“No”.

“Or, on the other hand, slightly more compassionately, yes?”

“Or, on the other hand, to protect my business from madmen, no”.

“Or?”

Amy groaned loudly, tired of listening to them argue. “Oh look, just shut up, the pair of you. I would like a bottle of wine, please, which I will then share with whomever I choose”.

“That could be good”, Vincent said.

“That’s good by me”, the manager agreed.

“Good”, Amy said and entered the café.

The Doctor, Elise, and Vincent went into the café and sat down at a table.

Amy was given her bottle of wine and she poured some for Vincent and herself as they talked.

“That accent of yours. You from Holland like me?” Vincent asked Amy.

“Yes”, the Doctor said at the same time Amy said, “No”.

“She means yes”, the Doctor told Vincent, “So, start again. Hello, I’m the Doctor”. He held out his hand for Vincent to shake.

“I knew it!”

The Doctor dropped his hand. “Sorry?”

“My brother’s always sending doctors, but you won’t be able to help”.

The Doctor laughed. “Oh, no, not that kind of doctor”. He noticed one of Vincent’s paintings sitting on the floor next to his chair. “That’s incredible, don’t you think, Amy?”

“Absolutely. One of my favorites”.

“One of my favorite whats?” Vincent asked, “You’ve never seen my work before”.

“Ah yes. One of my favorite paintings that I’ve ever seen, generally”, Amy corrected herself.

“Then you can’t have seen many paintings, then. I know it’s terrible. It’s the best I can do. Your hair’s orange”.

Amy leaned forward. “Yes. So’s yours”.

“Yes. It was more orange, but now is, of course, less”.

Elise and the Doctor both rolled their eyes in unison.

“So. Er, Vincent, painted any churches recently? Any churchy plans? Are churches, chapels, religiousy stuff like that, something you’d like to get into? You know, fairly soon?” the Doctor asked.

“Well, there is one church I’m thinking of painting when the weather is right”.

“That is very good news”.

A woman ran into the café screaming, “She’s been murdered! Help me!”

“That, on the other hand, isn’t quite such good news. Come on, Amy, Vincent, Elise!”

They all got up from their chairs and ran out into the street.

“Please, let me look. I’m a doctor”, the Doctor said, kneeling next to the body.

Amy picked Elise up and covered her face with her scarf. She didn’t need to see something like this.

“Oh no, no, no”.

A woman came running up to them. “Away, all of you vultures. This is my daughter. Giselle. What monster could have done this? Get away from her!”

“Okay, okay”, the Doctor said standing up and backing away from the distraught mother.

“Get that madman out of here!” she yelled.

The crowd started throwing stones at them.

“You bring this on us. Your madness! You!”

They all ran out into an alleyway.

“Are you all right?” the Doctor asked Vincent.

Amy checked Elise over for any injuries, but the small Timelord was unharmed.

“Yes, I’m used to it”, Vincent told him.

“Has anything like this murder happened here before?”

“Only a week ago. It’s a terrible time”.

“As I thought. As I thought. Come on, we’d better get you home”.

“Where are you staying tonight?”

The Doctor clapped Vincent on the shoulder with a smile. “Oh, you’re very kind”.

Amy giggled nervously and then followed after the Doctor, Elise still in her arms.


	27. Chapter 27

“Dark night. Very starry”, the Doctor commented as they stood outside Vincent’s cottage.

“It’s not much. I live on my own. But you should be okay for one night. One night”, Vincent told them.

“We’re going to stay with him?” Amy asked the Doctor.

“Until he paints that church”.

“Watch out. That one’s wet”, Vincent said, pointing to a painting.

“Elise, look”, Amy said. Amy and Elise stared at the painting. “It’s called Bedroom in Arles. If you draw and practice every day, maybe you could paint like that one day”.

It was rather simple in Elise’s eyes, but she liked the colors.

They entered Vincent’s home and were surrounded by his paintings.

“Sorry about all the clutter”, he said.

“Some clutter”, the Doctor told him.

“I’ve come to accept the only person who’s going to love my paintings is me”.

“Wow. I mean, really. Wow”, Amy said.

“Yeah, I know it’s a mess. I’ll have a proper clear out. I must, I really must. Coffee, anyone?”

“Not for me, actually”, the Doctor said.

Vincent placed a coffee pot down on a painting.

“You know, you should be careful with these. They’re precious”, the Doctor told him.

“Precious to me. Not precious to anyone else”.

It made Elise sad that he didn’t think his paintings were worth anything. They were beautiful.

“They’re precious to me”, Amy told him.

“Well, you’re very kind. And kindness is most welcome”.

“Right, so, this church, then. Near here, is it?” the Doctor asked.

“What is it with you and the church?”

“Oh, just casually interested in it, you know.”

“Far from casual. It seems to me you never talk about anything else. He’s a strange one.”

“Okay, so, let’s talk about you, then. What are you interested in?”

“Well, look around. Art. It seems to me there’s so much more to the world than the average eye is allowed to see. I believe, if you look hard, there are more wonders in this universe than you could ever have dreamed of.”

The Doctor smiled. “You don’t have to tell me.”

After Vincent had fixed himself a cup of coffee, Elise and Amy went outside to look at more of the paintings. While they were looking at one, something invisible knocked Amy to the ground. Amy screamed as Elise looked around, but there was nothing there.

Vincent and the Doctor came running out to check on the two girls.

“Amy? Amy? Elise, what happened?” the Doctor asked.

Elise shrugged.

“I don’t know. I didn’t see it. I was having a look at the paintings out here when something hit me from behind. I don’t think it hit Elise.”

“It’s okay. He’s gone now and we’re here.”

Vincent looked behind Amy and started shouting, “No! No!”

“Take it easy. Take it easy!” the Doctor told him.

“What’s happening? What’s he doing?” Amy asked.

“I don’t know”.

Vincent picked up a pitchfork and brandished it like a weapon.

“Oh, dear”, the Doctor said.

Vincent charged them with the pitchfork and Amy screamed as they jumped out of the way. “Run. Run!” Vincent yelled.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s not a bad idea. Amy, Elise, get back. He’s having some kind of fit. I’ll try to calm him down”, the Doctor told them.

Amy and Elise retreated to the entrance of Vincent’s home as they watched Vincent stab the air with the pitchfork.

“Easy, Vincent, easy”, the Doctor said, “Look. Look, look, look. It’s me, it’s me, it’s me. It’s the Doctor, look. No-one else is here. So, Vincent…”

A barrel was knocked over and Vincent barely had enough time to shout, “Look out!” before the Doctor was tossed aside.

The invisible force slashed through a painting near Amy’s face.

“I can’t see anything. What is it?” Amy asked.

“That is a good question. Let me help you”, the Doctor said grabbing a pole.

“You can see him, too?” Vincent asked.

“Yes. Ish. Well, no. Not really”. The Doctor was tossed through the air again and landed at Vincent’s feet.

“You couldn’t see him?” Vincent asked.

“No. No. Oi!” The Doctor jumped to his feet and ran towards where he thought the thing was and started swinging his pole as Vincent stabbed the pitchfork into something. The Doctor continued to swing his pole through the air.

“He’s gone”, Vincent told him.

“Oh, right. Yes. Of course”, he said, tossing his pole aside.

They went back inside and Vincent grabbed a canvas.

“Right. So he’s invisible. What did he look like?” the Doctor asked.

“I’ll show you”, Vincent said. He grabbed a paintbrush and painting over a finished painting.

“Oh, no, no. No, no!”

“What?”

“It’s just er, that was quite a good. Oh, no. On you go.”

Vincent took a piece of charcoal and sketched out what he had seen. It was something that looked like it had the head of a chicken with fierce claws.

“Okay. Okay. Right. Amy, make Mister Van Gogh comfortable. Don’t let any invisible monsters in through the front door”, the Doctor said.

“But it could be outside, waiting”, Amy said.

“Well, don’t worry. I’ll risk it. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“You could get torn into pieces by a monster you can’t see”.

“Oh right, yes, that. Don’t worry. I’ll be back before you can say where’s he got to now? Elise, be good for Auntie Amy. Oh, before I forget…” He pulled out a blanket and a bear from his pockets. He wrapped the blanket around Elise and she took the bear from him. He kissed her on the forehead and ruffled her hair. “See you round”, he said, leaving with the canvas in hand.

Amy picked her up and set her down on a chair. “Do you need me to sing to you?” Amy asked.

Elise shook her head and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.

“Is she yours?” Vincent asked.

“No”, Amy said, “She’s the Doctor’s”.

“So you and your Doctor aren’t together?”

Amy laughed. “No. I’m more of a glorified babysitter if we’re being honest”.

“Ellie, Ellie!” a voice whispered.

Elise opened her eyes and saw her father’s green eyes.

The Doctor smiled and said, “Good morning, little one”.

Elise yawned and rubbed her eyes.

He carried her out to the garden and set her down next to Amy before going inside to wake Vincent.

Elise looked around and realized they were surrounded by sunflowers. Vincent came to the window.

“I thought I’d brighten things up to thank you for saving me last night”, Amy told him.

“Ah”.

“I thought you might like, you know, possibly to perhaps paint them or something? Might be a thought”.

“Yes, well, they’re not my favorite flower”.

“You don’t like sunflowers?”

Amy and the Doctor shared a look as he poured tea.

“No, it’s not that I don’t like them. I find them complex. Always somewhere between living and dying. Half-human as they turn to the sun. A little disgusting. But, you know, they are a challenge”.

“And one I’m pretty sure you’ll rise to. But, moving on, there’s something I need to show you”.

After breakfast, they went inside and the Doctor handed a picture to Vincent.

“That’s him. And the eyes, without mercy”.

“This is a creature called the Krafayis. They travel in space. They travel as a pack, scavenging across the universe. And sometimes one of them gets left behind. And because they are a brutal race, the others never come back. So, dotted all around the universe are individual, utterly merciless, utterly abandoned Krafayis. And what they do is, well, kill, until they’re killed. Which they usually aren’t. Because other creatures can’t see them.”

“But I can.”

“Yes. And that’s why we are in a unique position today, my friend, to end this reign of terror. So, feeling like painting the church today?”

“What about the monster?”

“Take my word for it. If you paint it, he will come.”

“Okay. I’ll get my things.”

“In your own time. And I promise you, we’ll be out of your hair by this time tomorrow.”

Vincent paused before going into the other room.

“This is risky”, the Doctor said.

“Riskier than normal?” Amy asked.

“Well, think about it. This is the middle of Vincent Van Gogh’s greatest year of painting. If we’re not careful, the net result of our pleasant little trip will be the brutal murder of the greatest artist who ever lived. Half the pictures on the wall of the Musée d'Orsay will disappear. And it will be our fault”. The Doctor left to go check on Vincent and Amy and Elise followed him out into the front yard.

They heard yelling and the Doctor came out of Vincent’s bedroom.

“What’s happening?” Amy asked.

“We’re leaving. Everyone knows he’s a delicate man. Just months from now he’ll, he’ll take his own life”, the Doctor said.

“Don’t say that. Please,” Amy told him.

They went back inside Vincent’s home as they waited for Vincent.

When it became apparent that he would not being joining them, the Doctor sighed. “Come on. We have to do this on our own. Go to the church at the right time and hope the monster still turns up”.

Vincent suddenly emerged from his room. “I’m ready. Let’s go”.

As they ventured down the road to the church, Elise walked at her father’s side.

“I’m sorry you’re so sad,” Amy told Vincent.

“But I’m not. Sometimes these moods torture me for weeks, for months. But I’m good now. If Amy Pond can soldier on, then so can Vincent Van Gogh.”

“I’m not soldiering on. I’m fine.”

“Oh, Amy. I hear the song of your sadness. You’ve lost someone, I think.”

Tears filled Elise’s eyes as she remembered Rory. She’d barely gotten enough time to get to know him, but it still hurt.

“I’m not sad,” Amy told him.

“They why are you crying?”

Amy wiped away a tear that she didn’t remember falling from her eye.

“It’s all right. I understand.”

“I’m not sure I do.”

“Okay. Okay!” the Doctor said, “So, now, we must have a plan. When the creature returns…”

“Then we shall fight him again!” Vincent said.

“Well, yes, tick. But last night we were lucky. Amy and Elise could have been killed. So this time, for a start, we have to make sure I can see him too.” “And how are we meant to do that, suddenly?” Amy asked.

The Doctor tapped the box in his hand. “The answer’s in this box. I had an excellent, if smelly, godmother. Speaking of which, Amy, would you like to be Elise’s godmother?”

The tiny Timelord looked up at the redhead.

“Of course I would”, Amy said.

Elise just wished Rory were here.

The group spotted a funeral procession coming down the road towards them.

“Oh no, it’s that poor girl from the village”, Vincent said.

The stepped to the side of the road as the coffin was carried past them, a bouquet of sunflowers atop it.

Sunflowers were quickly becoming Elise’s favorite flower.

“You do have a plan, don’t you?” Amy asked the Doctor.

“No. It’s a thing. It’s like a plan, but with more grayness.”


	28. Chapter 28

Vincent set up his easel and canvas in front of the church window.

“And you’ll be sure to tell me if you see any, you know, monsters?” the Doctor asked him.

“Yes. While I may be mad, I’m not stupid.”

“No. Quite. And, to be honest, I’m not sure about mad either. It seems to me depression is a very complex…” 

Vincent quietly shushed him. “I’m working”.

“Well, yes. Paint. Do painting!” He stepped back from Vincent and knelt down next to Elise. “Look what I brought you?” The Doctor pulled out a sketchbook and a pack of colored pencils. 

Elise smiled and took them from him, sitting down next to Vincent. 

“My little Ellie, learning at the foot of the master!” the Doctor commented. Maybe after this, he’d take her visit some other artists. She would be great one day. He knew because he’d seen it. 

After many hours of listening to the Doctor talk and complain, night fell. He was now lying on the ground. “Is this how time normally passes? Really slowly. In the right order.” The Doctor jumped to his feet. “If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s an unpunctual alien attack.”

“Are you okay?” Amy asked him, “You seem a bit, if I didn’t know you better, I’d say nervous.”

“Yes, there’s something not right and I can’t quite put my finger on it.” 

“There. He’s at the window”, Vincent told them. 

“Where?” the Doctor asked. 

“There, on the right.”

“As I thought. Come on. I’m going in.” 

“Well I’m coming too.” 

“No! You’re Vincent Van Gogh. No.” 

“But you’re not armed.”

“I am.” 

“What with?” 

The Doctor picked up the case for his gadget. “Overconfidence, this, and a small screwdriver. I’m absolutely sorted. Just have to find the right crosactic setting and stun him with it. Sonic never fails. Anyway, Amy, Elise, only one thought, one simple instruction. Don’t follow me under any circumstances.” 

Amy nodded. “I won’t.” 

The Doctor entered the church.

“Will you follow him?” Vincent asked her.

“Of course.” 

Vincent looked down at Elise who nodded. He looked back at Amy. “I love you.” 

Amy just smirked. After a few minutes, Amy began to worry. “Has he moved?” 

“No. Just shifted to the next window. But, wait! He’s turning now.” 

There was a sound of breaking glass. 

Elise started running for the church. 

“Elise!” Amy yelled, running after her. 

Vincent grabbed his art supplies. “Amy!” 

Amy and Elise found him in the sanctuary. 

“Doctor!” 

“Argh! I thought I told you…Never mind. We’ll talk about it later. Quick, in here.” 

They got into a confessional booth, Elise clinging to Amy’s legs.

“Absolutely quiet”, the Doctor whispered. 

Amy was breathing hard in fear.

“Can you breathe a little quieter, please?” he asked her.

“No. He’s gone past.” 

The Krafayis knocked into Amy and Elise’s side, causing the two girls to scream. 

“I think he heard us”, the Doctor said. It knocked into the Doctor’s side next. “That is impressive hearing he’s got. What’s less impressive are our chances of survival.”

“Hey! Are you looking for me, sonny?” Vincent’s voice asked.

Amy opened the door to the confessional to see Vincent brandishing a chair. 

“Come on, over here. Because I’m right here waiting for you.” 

They climbed out of the booth. 

“Come on. Quickly. Get behind me.” 

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the creature. “Doing anything?” he asked. 

“Uh uh,” Vincent told him. 

They ran out into a courtyard.

“Where is he?” the Doctor asked.

“Where do you think he is, you idiot? Use your head.” 

The Doctor tried his screwdriver again. “Anything?” he asked. 

“Nothing. In fact, he seemed to rather enjoy it. Duck!”

The Doctor ducked. 

“Left.” 

The Doctor jumped the wrong way and got thrown against a wall. 

“Right, sorry. Your right, my left,” Vincent apologized.

“This is no good at all. Run like crazy and regroup,” the Doctor said.

“Oh, come on, in here,” Amy said, spotting a door. 

They ran inside the crypt and tried to shut the door, but the Krafayis stopped the door from closing. 

Vincent stomped on its foot and the door finally shut. 

“Right. Okay. Here’s the plan. Elise, Amy, Rory”, the Doctor said.

“Who?” Amy asked.

“Sorry. Er, Vincent.” 

“What is the plan?”

“I don’t know, actually. My only definite plan is that in future I’m definitely just using this screwdriver for screwing in screws.” 

“Give me a second. I’ll be back,” Vincent said and ran off.

“I suppose we could try talking to him,” the Doctor said.

“Talking to him?” Amy asked.

“Well, yes. Might be interesting to know his side of the story. Yes, though maybe he’s not really in the mood for conversation right at this precise moment.” 

The Krafayis pounded on the door. 

“Well, no harm trying.” The Doctor turned to face the door. “Listen. Listen! I know you can understand me, even though I know you won’t understand why you can understand me. I also know that no one’s talked to you for a pretty long stretch, but please, listen. I also don’t belong on this planet. I also am alone.” 

Elise’s head snapped up to look at him as he said that. What was he talking about? He wasn’t alone. He would never be alone again if she had her way. 

“If you trust me, I’m sure we can come to some kind of, you know, understanding. And then, and then, who knows?” 

The window across from them shattered, the Krafayis entering the crypt.

“Over here, mate!” Vincent yelled. 

Amy, Elise, and the Doctor ran over to Vincent and hid behind a pillar.

Vincent now held his easel as a weapon. 

“What’s it up to now?” the Doctor asked. 

“It’s moving round the room. Feeling its way around”, Vincent told him.

“What?”

“It’s like it’s trapped. It’s moving round the edges of the room.” 

“I can’t see a thing,” Amy said.

“I am really stupid,” the Doctor said, realizing what was going on.

“Oh, get a grip! This is not a moment to re-evaluate your self-esteem.” 

“No, I am really stupid, and I’m growing old. Why does it attack but never eat its victims? And why was it abandoned by its pack and left here to die? And why is it feeling its way helplessly around the walls of the room? It can’t see. It’s blind. Yes, and that explains why it has such perfect hearing!” The Doctor yelled the last two words in frustration.

“Which unfortunately also explains why it is now turning around and heading straight for us,” Vincent said. 

“Vincent. Vincent, what’s happening?”

“It’s charging now. Get back. Get back!”

“NO!” 

Time seemed to slow as the Krafayis rammed into the easel, lifting Vincent into the air. 

The Krafayis hit the floor and Elise ran forward. She reached out and touched the creature.

The Doctor knelt down next to his daughter, who now had her face pressed into the invisible creature as tears ran down her face. She could feel its pain, just like the Star Whale. 

“He wasn’t without mercy at all. He was without sight. I didn’t mean that to happen. I only meant to wound it, I never meant to…” Vincent said. 

“He’s trying to say something,” the Doctor said. 

“What is it?” 

“I’m having trouble making it out, but I think he’s saying, I’m afraid. I’m afraid…and…you are very kind.” 

The Doctor placed a hand on the invisible creature. “There, there. Shush, shush. It’s okay, it’s okay. You’ll be fine. Shush.” 

The creature stopped breathing and Elise let out a high pitched wail. 

The Doctor picked her up, despite her trying to fight him, and cradled her to his chest as she cried.

“He was frightened, and he lashed out,” Vincent said, “Like humans who lash out when they’re frightened. Like the villagers who scream at me. Like the children who throw stones at me.” 

“Sometimes winning…winning is no fun at all,” the Doctor said. 

“Hang on”, Amy said, “Before…someone screamed. It wasn’t me and I know it wasn’t you or Vincent”. 

The three adults looked at the small Timelord and the Doctor allowed himself a small smile. 

Elise had spoken and most likely not even realized. 

They went outside to the churchyard and laid down in the grass.

Vincent, on one side of the Doctor and Elise on the other with Amy beside her, creating a circle.

They stared up at the night sky. 

“Hold my hand, Doctor”, Vincent said. 

They all joined hands. 

“Try to see what I see. We are so lucky we are still alive to see this beautiful world. Look at the sky. It’s not dark and black and without character. The black is in fact deep blue. And over there, lighter blue. And blowing through the blueness and the blackness, the wind swirling through the air and then, shining, burning, bursting through, the stars. Can you see how they roar their light? Everywhere we look, the complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes.”

Elise could see Starry Night appearing in the sky. 

“I’ve seen many things, my friend. But you’re right. Nothing quite as wonderful as the things you see,” the Doctor told him.

“I will miss you terribly.”

“I only wish I had something of real value to give you,” Vincent said as the Doctor held his self-portrait in his hands.

Amy giggled with excitement.

“Oh, no, no, no. I could never accept such an extraordinary gift,” the Doctor told him. He handed the painting back to Vincent. 

“Very well. You’re not the first to decline the offer. Amy, the blessed, the wonderful.” 

They kissed each other on the cheek and hugged. 

“Be good to yourself, and be kind to yourself,” she told him. “I’ll try my best.” 

“And maybe give the beard a little trim before you next kiss someone.” 

“I will, I will. And if you tire of this Doctor of yours, return, and we will have children by the dozen.” 

“Eek.” 

“The little one.” 

Vincent knelt down in front of Elise. “Keep working on your art. See the beauty in the world.” 

Elise nodded.

“Doctor, my friend. We have fought monsters together and we have won. On my own, I fear I may not do as well.”

They hugged and then Elise, the Doctor, and Amy left. 

As they were walking through the courtyard of Vincent’s home, the Doctor said, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” 

“I was thinking I may need some food or something before we leave. I’m sure Elise is hungry too”. 

Elise nodded. “Well, no, you’re not thinking exactly what I’m thinking.” 

The Doctor turned back to the house. “Vincent!” 

Vincent popped out of the window shirtless and with a toothbrush in his mouth. 

“I’ve got something I’d like to show you. Maybe just tidy yourself up a bit first,” the Doctor told him. 

Soon they were in the alleyway where they left the TARDIS, which was covered in posters. 

“Now, you know we’ve had quite a few chats about the possibility there might be more to life than normal people imagine?” the Doctor asked. 

“Yes.” 

“Well, brace yourself, Vinny.” 

Vincent entered the TARDIS first, then ran outside again to look at the small blue box, and then enter the TARDIS again. “How come I’m the crazy one, and you two have stayed sane?” he asked.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Where are we?” Vincent asked as they exited the TARDIS. 

“Paris, 2010 AD. And this is the mighty Musée d'Orsay, home to many of the greatest paintings in history,” the Doctor told him. 

“Oh, that’s wonderful.”

Two men walked by with a portable radio. 

“Ignore that. I’ve got something more important to show you,” the Doctor said. 

They entered the museum and made their way to the Van Gogh exhibit like they had a few days ago.

The Doctor walked up to Doctor Black. “Doctor Black, we met a few days ago. I asked you about the church at Auvers.” 

“Oh, yes. Glad to be of help. You were nice about my tie.” 

“Yes. And today is another cracker if I may say so. But I just wondered, between you and me, in a hundred words, where do you think Van Gogh rates in the history of art?” 

“Well, big question, but to me, Van Gogh is the finest painter of them all. Certainly, the most popular great painter of all time. The most beloved. His command of color, the most magnificent. He transformed the pain of his tormented life into ecstatic beauty. Pain is easy to portray, but to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy and magnificence of our world. No one had ever done it before. Perhaps no one ever will again. To my mind, that strange, wild man who roamed the fields of Provence was not only the world’s greatest artist, but also one of the greatest men who ever lived.” 

Vincent, who was standing off to the side started crying. 

The Doctor noticed and put a hand on his shoulder. “Vincent. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Is it too much?” 

“No. They are tears of joy.” 

Vincent approached Doctor Black, kissed him on both cheeks, and then hugged him. “Thank you, sir. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. You’re welcome.”

“Sorry about the beard.” 

They landed in a field. 

“This changes everything,” Vincent said as they stepped out of the TARDIS, “I’ll step out tomorrow with my easel on my back a different man. I still can’t believe that one of the haystacks was in the museum. How embarrassing.” 

“It’s been a great adventure and a great honor,” the Doctor told him. 

The two of them embraced. 

“You’ve turned out to be the first doctor ever actually to make a difference to my life.” 

“I’m delighted. I won’t ever forget you.” 

Vincent turned to Amy. “And you are sure marriage is out of the question?”

“This time.” Amy hugged him. “I’m not really the marrying kind.” She kissed his cheek and stepped back from him. “Come on! Let’s go back to the gallery right now.” 

They touched back down at the Musée d'Orsay and Amy rushed out of the TARDIS.

“Time can be re-written. I know it can. Come on! Oh, the long life of Vincent Van Gogh. There’ll be hundreds of new paintings.”

“I’m not sure there will.” 

“Come on!” 

They entered the Van Gogh exhibit and Amy was disappointed to see all the same paintings. “So you were right. No new paintings. We didn’t make a difference at all.”

“I wouldn’t say that. The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things.” 

The Doctor wrapped his arms around her. “Hey. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don’t necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant. And we definitely added to his pile of good things. And, if you look carefully, maybe we did indeed make a couple of little changes.” He pulled her over to the painting of the church. 

“No Krafayis,” Amy said. 

“No Krafayis,” the Doctor echoed. 

Amy walked over to the painting of the sunflowers. 

At the very bottom of the vase, it said, “For Amy”. 

“If we had got married, our kids would have had very, very red hair,” she said. 

“The ultimate ginger.” 

“The ultimate ginge.” 

The Doctor and Amy laughed. 

“Brighter than sunflowers.”

As they were leaving the exhibit, Elise overheard something Doctor Black said. “It is said that had Vincent lived, he was planning on taking on an apprentice…” 

“Who was it? Another painter?” someone asked. 

“No one knows. But what _is_ known is that it was reportedly a young girl. She was never named, but he called her the “little star”.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Repost again, because I messed up. One of these days I will learn to check and make sure I'm posting the correct chapter.

The Doctor and Elise exited the TARDIS. 

“No, Amy, it’s definitely not the fifth moon of Cindie Colesta. I think I can see a Ryman’s,” the Doctor said. 

An explosion came from inside the TARDIS and threw the two of them to the ground as the TARDIS started to take off by itself.

“Amy! Amy!” the Doctor yelled. 

As the Doctor stared at the spot where the TARDIS once stood, Elise looked around them. 

They were on earth obviously, but where? 

The Doctor stood up and brushed himself off. 

What were they supposed to do now? Where would they stay? How would they get the TARDIS back? What if they never got it back? 

“Hey”, the Doctor said, kneeling in front of her, “Elise, look at me”. 

Elise snapped out of her thoughts and looked at his calming green eyes.

“I will get Amy and the TARDIS back. I promise. It’ll be okay”, he told her, “This will just be a daddy/daughter trip, okay?” 

Elise nodded.

“Now come here”, he said.

Elise wrapped her arms around his neck and the Doctor rubbed her back to try and keep her calm. 

They just needed to find somewhere to stay while he figured out what they were going to do. The first thing the Doctor did was sonic an ATM to get some money. 

He smiled remembering doing the same thing after he met Donna. The Doctor looked down at Elise as he remembered the other ginger that had magically appeared in his TARDIS.

He got them something to eat and checked them into a hotel for the night. If the TARDIS didn’t appear soon, he was going to have to go shopping for some new clothes for Elise. 

Elise slept curled up into the Doctor’s side that night. She missed Amy and the little blue box she called home.

The next day, they wandered around the town for a while until the Doctor spotted a card sitting in the window of a shop. He picked it up and smiled, recognizing his companion’s hand writing. 

They followed the directions to the house and rang the doorbell. 

A man threw open the door and said, “I love you.”

The Doctor smiled. “Well, that’s good, because I’m your new lodger. Do you know, this is going to be easier than I expected.” He took the fluffy pink keys from the man. 

“But I only put the advert up today. I didn’t put my address,” the man said. 

“Well, aren’t you lucky I came along? More lucky than you know. Less of a young professional, more of an ancient amateur, but frankly I’m an absolute dream.” 

“Hang on a minute, mate. I don’t know if I want you staying.” The man looked down at Elise. “Umm, the ad didn’t say anything about having kids”. 

“Oh, well Elise is very well behaved”. 

“She doesn’t cry or anything? Throw temper tantrums?”

“Oh, no. Nothing like that”. 

Elise gave the man a small wave. 

The man took the keys from the Doctor. “Give me back those keys. You can’t have those.”

“Yes, quite right. Have some rent.” The Doctor handed the man a bag with money in it. He had of course keep some for himself and Elise, just in case they needed anything. “That’s probably quite a lot, isn’t it?” the Doctor asked, “Looks like a lot. Is it a lot? I can never tell.” The Doctor invited himself in and Elise followed behind him. 

The lights upstairs flickered, giving Elise a bad feeling. There was something wrong about the upstairs.

“Don’t spend it all on sweets, unless you like sweets,” the Doctor told him, “I like sweets. Oh!” The Doctor put his hands on the man’s shoulders and air kissed him on both cheeks. “That’s how we greet each other nowadays, isn’t it? I’m the Doctor. Well, they call me the Doctor. I don’t know why. I call me the Doctor, too. Still don’t know why. And this is Elise.”

“Craig Owens. The Doctor?” 

“Yep. Who lives upstairs?” 

“Just some bloke.” 

“What’s he look like?” 

“Normal. He’s very quiet.”

There was a loud crash. 

“Usually.”

The Doctor entered Craig’s flat. 

“Sorry, who are you again? Hello? Excuse me?” 

The Doctor looked up and saw the stain on the ceiling. “Ah. I suppose that’s dry rot?” he asked.

“Or damp. Or mildew.”

“Or none of the above.” 

“I’ll get someone to fix it.” 

“No, I’ll fix it. I’m good at fixing rot. Call me the Rotmeister. No, I’m the Doctor, don’t call me the Rotmeister. This is the most beautiful parlor I have ever seen. You’re obviously a man of impeccable taste.” The Doctor hopped up on the counter. “We can stay, Craig, can’t we? Say we can.” 

“You haven’t even seen the room.” 

“The room?” 

“Your room.”

“My room? Oh, yes. My room.” 

Elise tugged on his pant leg. 

“ _Our_ room. Take us to our room.”

Craig led them to the room they would be staying in. “Yeah, this is Mark’s old room. He owns the place. Moved out about a month ago. This uncle he’d never even heard of died and left a load of money in the will,” Craig said. 

“How very convenient. This’ll do just right. In fact…” 

There was another loud crash from the flat above. 

The Doctor touched his tongue with his index finger and tested the air. “No time to lose. I’ll take it. Ah you’ll want to see my credentials. There.” The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper and shower it to Craig. “National Insurance number. NHS number. References.” 

“Is that a reference from the Archbishop of Canterbury?”

“I’m his special favorite. Are you hungry? I’m hungry.”

“I haven’t got anything in.” 

They went into the kitchen and the Doctor started raiding the fridge and cabinets. He and Craig talked as he cooked. “You’ve got everything I need for an _omelette fines herbes, pour deux_. So, who’s the girl on the fridge?” the Doctor asked.

A photo of Craig and a woman sat next to a postcard with Vincent’s self-portrait. 

Elise smiled sadly. She missed Vincent. 

“My friend. Sophie,” Craig told him. 

“Girlfriend?”

“A friend who is a girl. There’s nothing going on.” 

“Oh, that’s completely normal. Works for me.”

“We met at work about a year ago, at the call center.”

“Oh really, a communications exchange? That could be handy.” 

“Firm’s going down though. The bosses are using a totally rubbish business model. I know what they should do. I got a plan all worked out. But I’m just a phone drone, I can’t go running in saying I know best. Why am I telling you this? I don’t even know you.”

“Well, I’ve got one of those faces. People never stop blurting out their plans while I’m around.” 

“Right. Where’s your stuff?” 

“Oh, don’t worry, it’ll materialize. If all goes to plan.”

Less than twenty minutes later, the omelets were gone and Elise was curled up in the Doctor’s lap. 

“Oh, that was incredible. That was absolutely brilliant. Where did you learn to cook?” Craig asked. 

“Paris, in the eighteenth century. No, hang on, that’s not recent, is it? Seventeenth? No, no, no. Twentieth. Sorry, I’m not used to doing them in the right order.” 

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a bit weird?” 

“They never really stop. Ever been to Paris, Craig?” 

“Nah. I can’t see the point of Paris. I’m not much of a traveler.”

“I can tell from your sofa.” 

“My sofa?”

“You’re starting to look like it.”

“Thanks, mate, that’s lovely. No, I like it here. I’d miss it, I’d miss…”

“Those keys.” 

“What?” 

“You’re sort of fondling them.” 

“I’m holding them.” Craig dropped them and got up. 

“Right.” 

“Anyway. These, these are your keys.” He picked up a key ring and held them out. 

The Doctor got up with Elise in his arms. “We can stay?” 

“Yeah, you’re weird and you can cook and your daughter doesn’t scream her head off. It’s good enough for me. Right.” Craig went through the keys. “Outdoor, front door, your door.” 

“My door. My place. My gaff. Ha ha! Yes. Me with a key.” 

“And listen, Mark and I, we had an arrangement where if you ever need me out of your hair, just give me a shout, okay?” Craig winked and the Doctor winked back, not understand the cue.

“Why would I want that?” the Doctor asked. 

“In case you want to bring someone round. A girlfriend or, a boyfriend? Elise’s mother maybe?”

“Oh, Elise’s mother and I aren’t together, but I will. I’ll shout if that happens. Yes. Something like, I was not expecting this! By the way, that. The rot. I’ve got the strangest feeling we shouldn’t touch it.” He patted Craig on the shoulder and left the living room to put Elise to bed. He laid her down on the bed and covered her with the blanket. 

Elise was out the moment her head hit the pillow. She slept more than the average Timelord, but maybe it was because she was so young. 

He hoped she wouldn’t wake up while he was gone. He had some shopping to do. 

The next morning, Elise woke up and sat up in the bed. She panicked for a moment before she remembered where she was. 

At the foot of the bed was a small backpack (covered in a galaxy pattern of course) with a note on it. 

“ _To: Ellie. From: Dad.”_

She looked in it and found new clothes. There was also a sketchbook and some colored pencils. Elise got dressed, emptied the backpack except for the art supplies, and made her way into the living room to wait for the Doctor. She walked past the bathroom where Craig was waiting outside the door.

The Doctor was singing very loudly. 

Craig knocked on the door. “Doctor.”

“Hello?”

“How long are you going to be in there?”

“Oh, sorry. I like a good soak.”

A loud banging noise came from upstairs. 

“What the hell was that?” Craig asked. 

“What did you say?” the Doctor asked him.

“I’m just going to go upstairs. See if he’s okay.” 

“Sorry?” Craig left the flat.

“What did you say?” the Doctor asked, “Craig?” 

Elise heard a loud thumping sound come from the bathroom and she rolled her eyes.

The Doctor came running out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and Elise followed after him.

The two of them met Craig near the stairs. 

Elise rolled her eyes again when she saw the Doctor holding an electric toothbrush instead of his sonic screwdriver.

“What happened, what’s going on?” the Doctor asked.

“Is that my toothbrush?” Craig asked him. 

“Correct. You spoke to the man upstairs?” 

“Yeah.” 

“What did he look like?” 

“More normal than you do at the moment, mate. What are you doing?” 

“I thought you might be in trouble.” 

Craig laughed. “Thanks. Well, if I ever am, you can come and save me with my toothbrush.”

A phone started ringing inside the flat. 

Craig pushed past the Doctor to go and answer it. 

The Doctor started to go upstairs as a blonde woman came in the front door. 

“Oh! Hello,” she said, looking at the half-naked man and small child before her. 

The Doctor came back down the stairs. “Ah! Hello. The Doctor.” 

“Right.”

“You must be Sophie.” 

The Doctor air kissed her cheeks like he had done with Craig. 

Sophie looked at Elise. “And who might you be?” she asked.

“This is Elise. My daughter”. The Doctor softly smiled at her as he lovingly ran a hand over her hair.

“Daughter? Oh”. 

The three of them went into the flat where Craig was talking to someone on the phone. 

“No, Dom’s in Malta. There’s nobody around. Hang on a sec.” Craig walked up to the Doctor. “We’ve got a match today, pub league. We’re one down if you fancy it?”

“Pub league. A drinking competition?”

“No, football. Play football.”

“Football. Football. Yes, blokes play football. I’m good at football, I think.”

“You’ve saved my life. I’ve got somebody. Yeah, all right, I’ll see you down there. Hey, Soph.” 

“Hey, I thought I’d come early and meet your new flat mate.” 

The Doctor walked over to the fridge and grabbed a carton of milk. He looked down at Elise. “Are you hungry?” he asked her. 

Elise shook her head.

“Do you play, Sophie?” the Doctor asked.

“No, Soph just stands on the sidelines. She’s my mascot,” Craig said as the Doctor took a drink of the milk straight from the container. 

If Amy were here, or if Elise were older, she would have smacked him for being so rude. 

“I’m your mascot? Mascot?” Sophie asked, offended. 

“Well, yeah, not my mascot. It’s a football match. I can’t take a date.”

“I didn’t say I was your date.” 

“Neither did I.” 

There was an awkward pause, before the Doctor broke the silence. “Better get dressed.” He handed Craig his toothbrush back.

“The spare kit’s just in the bottom drawer,” Craig told him.

The Doctor nodded. “Bit of a mess,” he said before slamming the door in Craig’s face. 

The two adults looked down at the small child. 

Elise went over to a chair and sat down while Sophie and Craig talked quietly. Elise wasn’t listening to their conversation anyway. 

Humans were so odd sometimes.


	30. Chapter 30

The park wasn’t far from Craig’s flat so they walked. 

Elise walked by the Doctor’s side with her backpack on her back as the Doctor played around with the football in his hands. If Elise had felt comfortable speaking in front of Craig and Sophie, she would have told the Doctor to leave his jacket at home instead of wearing it over the football jersey. 

It made him look weird. More than usual. 

“What are you actually called? What’s your proper name?” Craig asked him. 

“Just call me the Doctor.”

“Yeah,” Sophie said. 

“I can’t go up to these guys and say hey, this is my new flat mate, he’s called the Doctor,” Craig told him. 

“Why not?” 

“Because it’s weird. By the way, if you’re called the Doctor, then how come Elise’s got a normal name?”

“Because she’s a child. That’s why”. 

When they got to the pitch, one of Craig’s teammates greeted them. “All right, Craig. Soph. All right, mate.” 

“Hello, I’m Craig’s new flat mate. I’m called the Doctor,” the Doctor said, giving the man air kisses.

“All right, Doctor. I’m Sean. So, where are you strongest?” 

“Arms.”

“No, he means what position on the field,” Craig explained. 

“Not sure. The front? The side? Below,” the Doctor said.

“Are you any good though?” Sean asked. 

The Doctor spun the football on his finger. “Let’s find out.” The Doctor took off his jacket and set it on the ground.

“I’ll watch her. Don’t worry”, Sophie told him. 

The Doctor kissed Elise on the head before running out onto the field. 

The game seemed simple enough, although it was nothing like the games they played on Gallifrey. 

Elise had no interest in watching the game so she pulled out her sketchbook and started to draw Gallifrey, specifically the silver leaves on the trees. 

“That’s rather good”, Sophie told her, “You’re like one of those child prodigies.” 

Needless to say, Craig’s team won the match thanks to the Doctor. “

You are so on the team,” Sean told him as he handed out beers, “Next week we’ve got the Crown and Anchor. We’re going to annihilate them.” 

“Annihilate? No. No violence, do you understand me? Not while I’m around. Not today, not ever. I’m the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, and you basically meant beat them in a football match, didn’t you?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Lovely. What sort of time?” 

Craig opened his can and got sprayed with foam. 

The same moment repeated again and again. 

Elise and the Doctor stepped away from the group and the Doctor pressed a button on his earpiece as he started to talk to Amy. 

“Amy? Amy? What does the scanner say? Yes, yes, it’s, it’s good. Zigzag plotter. Zigzag plotter, Amy. Amy? Are you there? Amy?” 

The Doctor paused and Elise started to worry for their ginger friend. 

“Oh, thank heavens. I thought for a moment the TARDIS had been flung off into the vortex with you inside it, lost forever. How are the numbers?” 

The scene behind them stopped repeating.

“Fives? Even better. Still, it means the effect’s almost unbelievably powerful and dangerous, but don’t worry. Hang on, okay? I’ve got some rewiring to do.” 

They made their way back over to the group.

“Sorry about that. Important phone call”, the Doctor said.

“No worries, mate”, Craig said, “Well I’m going to head back”. 

“I think me and Elise are going to stay for a little while”. The Doctor took the football from Craig.

“Okay, see you at home then”, Craig said and the team left. 

The Doctor took off his jacket and led Elise onto the pitch. He placed the football in front of her and then walked a few feet away. 

Elise stared down at the ball. 

“C’mon, Ellie. Just kick it over to me”, he told her. 

Elise tried her hardest to kick the ball but it barely moved. Tears filled her eyes as she sat down with her arms crossed. 

The Doctor laughed quietly to himself and walked over to her. “Aww, Elise. It’s okay”, he said, rubbing her back. He picked her up and set her on her feet. “C’mon, try it again”, he told her. 

She kicked the ball again and it moved a little further. 

“It’s too big, isn’t it? Tell you what, when we get Amy back we’ll get a child sized ball and we can practice with that, okay? Why don’t we go play on the playground instead?” he suggested.

They stayed at the playground until Elise tired herself out. 

The Doctor carried her home and put her to bed while he worked on his device. 

When Elise woke up, the Doctor was nowhere to be seen. She panicked and was about to start screaming for him when she heard voices coming from the living room. Elise got out of bed and padded into the living room.

“Oh, hey there”, the Doctor said, smiling at her. 

Elise walked to him and he picked her up, placing her in his lap as he worked on the mess of wires around his neck. 

“We didn’t wake her, did we?” Sophie asked. 

Elise shook her head.

“She fell asleep after we went to the park.” 

“How will she sleep tonight?” 

“Probably won’t”. 

“She’s not on a schedule or anything?” 

The Doctor shrugged. “I let her do what she wants. Bolsters creativity”. 

Elise hated it when adults talked about her like she wasn’t in the room at all. 

“Like I was saying, life can seem pointless, you know, Doctor. Work, weekend, work, weekend. And there’s six billion people on the planet doing pretty much the same,” Sophie said.

“Six billion people. Watching you two at work, I’m starting to wonder where they all come from,” the Doctor commented.

“Huh? What do you mean by that?” 

“So then, the call center. That’s no good, then. What do you really want to do?” 

“Don’t laugh. I only ever told Craig about it. I want to work looking after animals. Maybe abroad? I saw this orangutan sanctuary on telly.”

“What’s stopping you?”

“She can’t. You need loads of qualifications,” Craig told him. 

“Yeah, true,” Sophie said, “Plus it’s scary. Everyone I know lives round here. Like, Craig got offered a job in London. Better money. He didn’t take it.”

“What’s wrong with staying here? I can’t see the point of London.” 

“Well, perhaps that’s you, then. Perhaps you’ll just have to stay here, secure and a little bit miserable, till the day you drop. Better than trying and failing, eh?” the Doctor asked. 

“You think I’d fail?”

“Everybody’s got dreams, Sophie. Very few are going to achieve them, so why pretend?” The Doctor took a drink of his wine and then spit it back into the glass. “Perhaps, in the whole wide universe, a call center about is where you should be.”

“Why are you saying that? That’s horrible.” 

“Is it true?”

“Of course it’s not true. I’m not staying in a call center all my life. I can do anything I want!”

The Doctor smiled. She played right into his hands. 

Sophie smiled back, realizing what he had just done. “Oh, yeah. Right. Oh, my God. Did you see what he just did?” 

“No, sorry, what’s happening? Are you going to live with monkeys now?” Craig asked. 

“It’s a big old world, Sophie. Work out what’s really keeping you here, eh?” the Doctor told her. 

“I don’t know. I don’t know,” she said.

Craig walked Sophie out to say goodbye while Elise and the Doctor went back to their room. 

He put the finishing touches on his machine. “Right. Shield’s up. Let’s scan,” he said. He started to spin it. The Doctor had his earpiece in, so once again Elise could only hear half the conversation.

“Upstairs. No traces of high technology. Totally…” He ran over to check the readings. “Normal? No, no, no, no, no, it can’t be. It’s too normal. Without knowing and get myself killed? Then you really are lost. If I could just get a look in there. Hold on. Use the data bank. Get me the plans of this building. I want to know its history, the layout, everything. Meanwhile, I shall recruit a spy.”

The next morning, the Doctor got up and made breakfast.

After he and Elise had eaten, he loaded up a breakfast tray and carried it to Craig’s room. 

“Craig? Craig? Breakfast. It’s normal. Craig?” 

They entered his bedroom to find Craig still in bed.

The Doctor ran over to Craig and set the tray down on the bed. “Craig. Craig, Craig, Craig. I told you not to touch it!” He grabbed Craig’s arm that had a nasty looking line going up it. “Look, what’s that? It’s an unfamiliar and obviously poisonous substance. Oh, I know what’d be really clever, I’ll stick my hand in it. Come on, Craig, breathe.” The Doctor slammed his fist down onto Craig’s chest. 

Craig sat up and gasped. 

“Come on, Craig, breathe. Thems are healthy footballer’s lungs.” The Doctor grabbed the teapot and ran out of the room. 

Elise wished she was older so she could help. 

The Doctor ran back in and poured the tea into Craig’s mouth, straight from the teapot. 

“I’ve got to go to work,” Craig told him.

“On no account. You need rest. One more.” 

“It’s the planning meeting. It’s important.” 

“You’re important. You’re going to be fine, Craig.” The Doctor jumped up from the bed. “Come along, Elise”. He took her hand and they went to the call center. 

“Doctor! Elise!” Sophie said, “What are you doing here?”

“Craig wasn’t feeling well, so he asked me to come instead”. 

“Oh, well his desk is over there. Do you need me to get you a babysitter for Elise?” the Doctor waved his hand dismissively.

“No. Elise will be fine as long as she has her sketchbook. You won’t even know she’s here”. 

Around 2:00 pm, Craig came running into the office. 

“Oh, afternoon,” his manager said. 

“I’m so sorry, Michael. I don’t know what happened. I’ve got no excuse.” 

“I think that’s not what my screen is telling me, Mister Lang,” the Doctor said, popping up from under his desk.

“What’s he doing here? What are you doing here?” Craig asked. 

“If that’s your attitude, Mister Lang, please take your custom elsewhere.” 

“No, no, no, that’s one of my best clients!” 

“Hello, Craig. How are you feeling? Had some time to kill. I was curious. Never worked in an office. Never worked in anywhere.” 

“You’re insane!” 

“Leave off the Doctor. I love the Doctor. He was brilliant in the planning meeting,” his manager said. 

“You went to the planning meeting?” Craig asked. 

“Yes. I was your representative. We don’t need Mister Lang any more. Rude Mister Lang.” 

Sophie came over with a plate and a mug. “Here you go, and I found some custard creams,” she said, “Can I get Ellie anything?” 

“Sophie, my hero,” the Doctor said, handing one of the biscuits off to Elise. 

Elise tucked it away in her backpack for later.

“Hi, Craig. I went on the web, applied for a wildlife charity thing. They said I could always start as a volunteer straight away. Should I do it?” Sophie asked him. 

“Yeah, great. Yeah, good. Go for it.”

“You look awful. About turn. Bed. Now,” the Doctor told Craig, “Who next? Oh, yes. Hello, Mister Joergensen. Can you hold? I have to eat a biscuit.”


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re moving into the series finale. I think I’m keeping Elise with the Doctor instead of sending her off with River to the TARDIS.

The Doctor and Elise arrived home as a cat was coming down the stairs.

“Have you been upstairs?” the Doctor asked the cat, “Yes?” He sat down and started petting the cat as he talked to it. “You can do it. Show me what’s up there? What’s behind that door? Try to show me.”

Elise stroked the cat’s soft fur and smiled, feeling it purr underneath her hand.

“Oh, but that doesn’t make sense. Ever see anyone go up there? Lots of people? Good, good. What kind of people?” the Doctor asked.

The cat meowed.

“People who never came back down. Oh, that’s bad. That’s very bad.”

The door to flat opened and Craig stood there.

“Oh, hello,” the Doctor said.

“I can’t take this anymore. I want you to go,” Craig told him.

The Doctor got up, leaving the cat and Elise on the steps.

The cat crawled into Elise’s lap as she scratched it behind the ears.

The cat scurried off as it heard the door open.

It was Sophie. “Oh, hello Elise”, she said.

“Please can you help me?” a voice asked.

Elise turned around and saw a little girl standing at the top of the stairs.

That was weird. Didn’t Craig say a man lived upstairs? Was this his daughter? Niece? Granddaughter?

“Hi,” Sophie said.

“Please, will you help me?”

“What’s the matter, my love? Help you?” Sophie walked past Elise to go up the stairs.

“No,” Elise whispered, but Sophie didn’t hear her. Elise got up and followed Sophie.

Downstairs in the Doctor’s room, the Doctor and Craig heard a loud crash come from upstairs.

“People are dying up there? People are dying. People are dying. People are dying,” Craig repeated as another time loop started.

“Amy,” the Doctor said.

“They’re being killed.”

“Someone’s up there.”

The Doctor and Craig ran into the foyer and started up the stairs. “Hang on.”

Craig turned around and saw Sophie’s keys in the flat door.

“Craig, come on. Someone’s dying up there.”

“Sophie. It’s Sophie that’s dying up there! It’s Sophie!” Craig yelled, “Where’s Sophie?”

The Doctor stopped at the door. “Wait, wait.” His hearts sped up as he realized Elise was no longer on the stairs or in the flat. “Elise. Where’s Elise? Amy? Just going in. Of course I can be upstairs.” The Doctor soniced the door open and they were standing in a timeship.

“What? What?” Craig asked.

“Oh. Oh, of course. The time engine isn’t in the flat, the time engine is the flat. Someone’s attempt to build a TARDIS,” the Doctor said.

“No, there’s always been an upstairs.”

“Has there? Think about it.”

“Yes. No. I don't…”

“Perception filter. It’s more than a disguise. It tricks your memory.”

There was a scream and Sophie was being pulled towards the center console. Elise was holding onto her jacket, trying to pull her away.

“Sophie! Sophie! Oh, my God, Sophie!” Craig yelled.

“Craig,” she said.

“Elise!” the Doctor yelled, finally seeing her.

Craig ran over to Sophie and grabbed her arm, trying to stop her.

“It’s controlling her, Sophie. It’s willing her to touch the activator,” the Doctor said.

“That’s not going to have her,” Craig told him.

Sophie’s hand landed on the circular control.

The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver. “Ah, deadlock seal!”

“You’ve got to do something!” Craig yelled.

The control let go of Sophie’s hand and she fell back away from it.

“What? Why’s it let her go?” the Doctor asked. He walked away from Craig, Sophie, and Elise as a man appeared.

“You will help me,” he said.

“Right. Stop. Crashed ship, let’s see. Hello, I’m Captain Troy Handsome of International Rescue. Please state the nature of your emergency,” the Doctor said.

“The ship has crashed. The crew are dead. A pilot is required.”

“You’re the emergency crash program. A hologram. What, you’ve been luring people up here so you can try them out?” The Doctor soniced the hologram and it flickered between the old man, a young man, and the young girl.

“You will help me. You will help me. You will help me.”

“Craig, what is this? Where am I?” Sophie asked, waking up.

“Hush,” the Doctor told her, “Human brains aren’t strong enough, they just burn. But you’re stupid, though. You just keep trying.”

“Seventeen people have been tried. Six billion four hundred thousand and twenty six remain.”

“Seriously, what is going on?” Sophie asked.

“Oh, for goodness sake. The top floor of Craig’s building is in reality an alien space ship intent on slaughtering the population of this planet. Any questions? No, good.”

“Yes, I have questions.”

“The correct pilot has now been found,” the autopilot said.

“Yes, I was a bit worried that you were going to say that.” The Doctor started to be pulled towards the center console.

Elise got up and ran over to him, grabbing him around the waist but it was no use. Both of them were being pulled towards the console. If he was going, she was going with him.

“The correct pilot has been found. The correct pilot has been found. The correct pilot has been found,” the autopilot repeated.

“It’s pulling me in. I’m the new pilot. No, I’m way too much for this ship. My hand touches that panel, the planet doesn’t blow up, the whole solar system does.” The Doctor’s hand was nearly touching the controls.

“The correct pilot has been found.”

“No. Worst choice ever, I promise you. Stop this. It doesn’t want everyone. Craig, it didn’t want you.”

“I spoke to him and he said I couldn’t help him.”

“It didn’t want Sophie before but now it does. What’s changed? Argh. No. No, I gave her the idea of leaving. It’s a machine that needs to leave. It wants people who want to escape. And you don’t want to leave, Craig. You’re Mister Sofa Man. Craig, you can shut down the engine. Put your hand on the panel and concentrate on why you want to stay.”

“Craig, no,” Sophie told him.

“Will it work?” Craig asked.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Is that a lie?”

“Of course it’s a lie!”

“It’s good enough for me. Geronimo!” Craig slammed his hand down on the control panel.

The Doctor was released and he stumbled back.

Elise let go of him as he ran over Craig, who was now on his knees.

“Craig!” Sophie yelled.

Smoke was rising from Craig’s hand.

“Craig, what’s keeping you here? Think about everything that makes you want to stay here. Why don’t you want to leave?” the Doctor asked him, slapping him for good measure.

“Sophie. I don’t want to leave Sophie. I can’t leave Sophie. I love Sophie.”

“I love you, too, Craig, you idiot.” Sophie slammed her hand down on top of Craig’s.

“Honestly, do you mean that?”

“Of course I mean it. Do you mean it?”

“I’ve always meant it. Seriously though, do you mean it?”

“Yes.”

“What about the monkeys?”

“Oh, not now, not again. Craig, the planet’s about to burn. For God’s sake, kiss the girl!” the Doctor yelled.

Craig and Sophie kissed, the control panel letting go of Craig’s hand.

Elise’s nose wrinkled in disgust as she watched the adults kiss.

“Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me,” the autopilot repeated as it flickered in and out.

“Big no,” the Doctor said.

“Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me.”

“Did we switch it off?” Craig asked.

“Emergency shutdown. It’s imploding. Everybody out, out, out!” the Doctor yelled.

Sophie, Craig, the Doctor, and Elise ran out of the flat just in time to see the timeship fly away.

A man walked by carrying a child.

“Look at them. Didn’t they see that? The whole top floor just vanished,” Craig said.

“Perception filter. There never was a top floor,” the Doctor told him.

They went back inside the flat.

The Doctor cleaned up the room they had been staying in as Elise packed up her stuff into her backpack.

When they came out into the living, Sophie and Craig were kissing on the couch.

The Doctor turned away from them and left his keys on the table by the door.

“Oi,” Craig said, getting up from the couch.

“What, you’re trying to sneak off?” Sophie asked.

“Yes, well, you were sort of busy,” the Doctor told them.

Craig picked up the keys and held them out to the Doctor. “I want you to keep these.”

“Thank you. Because I might pop back soon, have another little stay.”

“No, you won’t. I’ve been in your head, remember. I still want you to keep them.”

“Thank you, Craig.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“Sophie. Now then. Six billion four hundred thousand and twenty six people in the world. That’s the number to beat.”

“Yeah,” Sophie said. She looked down at Elise. “Be good for your father, okay? You’ll have to invite us to your art show when you’re older.”

Elise smiled and nodded.

The Doctor took her hand and they left. They walked back down to the park where the TARDIS had landed.

Elise took off running towards the blue box. She stroked the blue door and smiled, feeling her hum underneath her fingertips.

Amy threw open the door and scooped Elise up. Elise giggled as Amy kissed her cheeks. “Did you have fun?” Amy asked.

Elise nodded. She had enjoyed her alone time with the Doctor, but she had also missed Amy.

Amy put Elise down and she hurried off to her room to unpack. She pulled out a TARDIS shaped diary (courtesy of the TARDIS herself) and went to work documenting their adventure.


	32. Chapter 32

“I can’t believe I’ve never thought of this before!” the Doctor said as Amy came up to the platform, “It’s genius.” The Doctor pulled the lever and the TARDIS landed with a thud. “Right. Landed. Come on.”

“Where are we?” Amy asked.

“Planet One. The oldest planet in the universe. And there’s a cliff of pure diamond, and according to legend, on the cliff there’s writing. Letters fifty feet high. A message from the dawn of time And no one knows what it says, because no one’s ever translated it. Till today.”

“What happens today?”

The Doctor tapped Amy on the nose. “Us. The TARDIS can translate anything. All we have to do is open the doors and read the very first words in recorded history.”

The Doctor took Amy and Elise’s hands and pulled them outside.

On the cliff wall read two words: Hello Sweetie and a set of coordinates.

Elise smiled. That meant they were going to see River again!

“Vavoom,” Amy commented.

They went back inside the TARDIS and followed the coordinates which led them to a hill overlooking a Roman camp.

“Right place?” Amy asked.

“Just followed the co-ordinates on the cliff face. Earth. Britain. One o’ two am. No, pm. No, AD.”

“That’s a Roman Legion.”

“Well, yeah. The Romans invaded Britain several times during this period.”

“Oh, I know. My favorite topic at school. Invasion of the hot Italians.”

Both Elise and the Doctor gave Amy a look.

“Yeah, I did get marked down for the title.”

A soldier ran up to them and saluted. “Hail, Caesar!”

“Hi,” the Doctor said as the Roman knelt down.

“Welcome to Britain. We are honored by your presence.”

“Well, you’re only human. Arise, Roman person.”

The Roman stood up.

“Why does he think you’re Caesar?” Amy asked.

“Cleopatra will see you now.”

The Roman led them down the hill into a tent.

At the back sat not Cleopatra, but River dressed up as her. “Hello, sweetie,” River said smiling.

“River. Hi,” Amy said.

Elise ran towards her.

“My little star! You’ve grown”, River told her.

“You graffitied the oldest cliff face in the universe,” the Doctor said.

“You wouldn’t answer your phone.” River clapped and the servants left the tent. She presented the Doctor with a rolled up document.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“It’s a painting. Your friend Vincent.”

The Doctor took it from River and unfurled it on a table nearby.

“One of his final works. He had visions, didn’t he? I thought you ought to know about this one.”

“Doctor? Doctor, what is this?” Amy asked.

It looked exactly like Starry Night, except the TARDIS was exploding in the middle of it.

“Why is it exploding?” Amy asked.

“I assume it’s some kind of warning,” River told her.

“What, something’s going to happen to the TARDIS?”

“It might not be that literal. Anyway, this is where he wanted you. Date and map reference on the door sign, see?”

“Does it have a title?” the Doctor asked.

“The Pandorica Opens,” River said.

“The Pandorica? What is it?” Amy asked.

“A box, a cage, a prison. It was built to contain the most feared things in all the universe.” The Doctor got up from the chair he’d been sitting in and started pacing. “And it’s a fairy tale, a legend. It can’t be real.”

“If it is real, it’s here and it’s opening, and it’s got something to do with your TARDIS exploding. Hidden, obviously.”

The Doctor laid a couple of maps on the table.

“Buried for centuries. You won’t find it on a map,” River told him.

“No, but if you buried the most dangerous things in the universe, you’d want to remember where you put it.” He pointed to a place on the map.

“Oh you can’t be serious,” River said.

“What? Where is it?” Amy asked.

They galloped up to Stonehenge.

River dismounted her horse and set Elise on the ground.

The Doctor had wanted Elise to ride with him, but Elise had insisted on going with River.

The Doctor and River started scanning the stones around them.

“How come it’s not new?” Amy asked.

“Because it’s already old. It’s been here thousands of years. No one knows exactly how long.”

“Okay, this Pandorica thing. Last time we saw you, you warned us about it, after we climbed out of the Byzantium.”

River tapped her lips with her index finger and said, “Spoilers.”

“No, but you told the Doctor you’d see him again when the Pandorica opens.”

“Maybe I did, but I haven’t yet. But I will have. Doctor, I’m picking up fry particles everywhere. Energy weapons discharged on this site.”

The Doctor hopped on top of a large stone. “If the Pandorica is here, it contains the mightiest warriors in history. Now, half the galaxy would want a piece of that. Maybe even fight over it. We need to get down there.”

Night fell as River finished placing a device on each corner of the Altar stone. “Right then. Ready.”

The Altar stone started moving to reveal a staircase.

“The Underhenge,” the Doctor said.

Elise grabbed onto River’s hand as they descended the stairs.

The Doctor picked up a torch and lit it with his sonic screwdriver and did the same for River.

They unlocked a large wooden door.

It swung open to reveal the Pandorica in the next chamber.

“It’s a Pandorica,” the Doctor said.

“More than just a fairy tale,” River told him.

The Doctor stepped forward and placed a hand on it. “There were a pair of goblins, or tricksters, or warriors. Nameless, terrible things, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared beings in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop them, or hold them, or reason with them. One day they would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world.”

“How did the end up in there?”

“You know fairy tales. A good wizard tricked it.”

“I hate good wizards in fairy tales. They always turn out to be him. Fairies on the other hand…” River said. She handed her torch to Amy and started to scan the Pandorica.

“So, it’s kind of like Pandora’s Box, then?” Amy asked, “Almost the same name.”

“Sorry, what?” the Doctor asked her.

“The story. Pandora’s Box, with all the worst things in the world in it. That was my favorite book when I was a kid.”

The Doctor stopped sonicing the Pandorica.

“What’s wrong?” Amy asked him.

“Your favorite school topic. Your favorite story. Never ignore a coincidence, unless you’re busy. In which case, always ignore a coincidence.”

“So can you open it?” River asked.

“Easily. Anyone can break into a prison. But I’d rather know what I’m going to find first,” the Doctor told her.

“You won’t have long to wait. It’s already opening. There are layers and layers of security protocols in there, and they’re being disabled one by one. Like it’s being unlocked from the inside.”

“How long do we have?”

“Hours at the most.”

“What kind of security?”

“Everything. Deadlocks, time stops, matter lines.”

“What could need all that?”

“What could get past all that?”

“Think of the fear that went into making this box. What could inspire that level of fear? Hello, you. Have we met?”

“So why would it start to open now?”

“No idea.”

Amy cleared her throat, interrupting them much to Elise’s disappoint. She loved watching her father and River work together.

“And how could Vincent have known about it? He won’t even be born for centuries,” she said.

“The stones. These stones are great big transmitters, broadcasting a warning to everyone, everywhere, to every time zone,” the Doctor explained, “The Pandorica is opening.”

“Doctor, everyone everywhere?”

“Even poor Vincent heard it, in his dreams. But what’s in there? What could justify all this?”

“Doctor, everyone?”

“Anything that powerful, I’d know about it. Why don’t I know?”

“Doctor, you said everyone could hear it. So who else is coming?” River asked

“Oh,” the Doctor said, realizing.

“Oh? Oh, what?” Amy asked.

River walked over to one of the stones. “Okay. If it is basically a transmitter, we should be able to fold back the signal.”

“Doing it,” the Doctor said, sonicing the pillars.

“Doing what?” Amy asked.

“Stonehenge is transmitting,” River explained, “It’s been transmitting for a while, so who heard?”

“Okay, should be feeding back to you now. River, what’s out there?” the Doctor asked.

“Give me a moment.”

“River, quickly. Anything?”

“Around this planet there are at least ten thousand starships.”

“At least?” Amy asked.

“Ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, I don’t know. There’s too many readings,” River said.

“What kind of starships?” the Doctor asked.

“Maintaining orbit.”

“I obey. Shield cover compromised on ion sectors.”

Elise’s blood ran cold hearing the electronic voices that often haunted her nightmares.

“Daleks. Those are Daleks,” Amy said.

“Scan detects no temporal activity.”

“Soft grid scan commencing.”

“Reverse thrust for compensatory stabilization.”

“Daleks, Doctor,” River told him.

“Launch preliminary armaments protocol.”

“Yes. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Dalek fleet, minimum twelve thousand battleships, armed to the teeth. Ah! But we’ve got surprise on our side. They’ll never expect three people to attack twelve thousand Dalek battleships. Because we’d be killed instantly. So it would be a fairly short surprise. Forget surprise.”

Amy tried to keep Elise calm, because she could tell the small Timelord was close to a break down.

River ran over to another pillar and scanned it. “Doctor, Cyberships,” River told him.

“No, Dalek ships. Listen to them. Those are Dalek ships.”

“Yes. Dalek ships and Cyberships.”

“Well, we need to start a fight, turn them on each other. I mean, that’s easy. It’s the Daleks. They’re so cross.”

River scanned yet another pillar. “Sontaran. Four battlefleets.”

“Sontarans! Talk about cross, who stole all their handbags?” the Doctor tried to joke.

“Terileptil. Slitheen, Chelonian, Nestene, Drahvin. Sycorax, Haemogoth, Zygon, Atraxi, Draconian. They’re all here for the Pandorica.”

“What are you? What could you possibly be?”

The four of them ran outside and saw spaceships filling the skies.

“What do we do?” Amy asked.

“Doctor, listen to me. Everything that ever hated you is coming here tonight. You can’t win this. You can’t even fight it. Doctor, this once, just this one time, please, you have to run. Take Elise and run,” River told him.

“Run where?”

“Fight how?”

“The greatest military machine in the history of the universe.”

“What is? The Daleks?” Amy asked.

The Doctor shook his head. “No. No, no, no, no, no. The Romans.” 


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re getting down to the wire, guys!

“So what’s this got to do with the TARDIS?” Amy asked.

River had left to go back to the Roman camp, leaving Elise, Amy, and the Doctor on their own.

“Nothing, as far as I know,” the Doctor said.

“But Vincent’s painting. The TARDIS was exploding. Is that going to happen?”

“One problem at a time. There’s forcefield technology inside this box. If I can enhance the signal, I could extend it all over Stonehenge. Could buy us half an hour.”

“What good is half an hour?”

“There are fruit flies live on Hoppledom Six that live for twenty minutes and they don’t even mate for life. There was going to be a point to that. I’ll get back to you.”

“So, are you proposing to someone?”

“I’m sorry?”

“I found this in your pocket.”

Elise and the Doctor looked at her. She was holding her engagement ring.

“No. No, no, that’s er, a memory. A friend of mine. Someone I lost.” The Doctor tried taking it from her, but she pulled away from him. “Do you mind?”

“It’s weird. I feel, I don’t know, something,” Amy said.

The Doctor and Elise realized that on some level, she remembered Rory.

“People fall out of the world sometimes, but they always leave traces. Little things we can’t quite account for. Faces in photographs, luggage, half eaten meals, rings. Nothing is ever forgotten, not completely. And if something can be remembered, it can come back.”

“So, was she nice, your friend?” Amy asked, handing the ring back to the Doctor.

“Remember that night you flew away with me?”

“Of course I do.”

“And you asked me why I was taking you and I told you there wasn’t a reason. I was lying.”

“What, so you did have a reason?”

“Your house.”

“My house.”

“It was too big. Too many empty rooms. Does it ever bother you, Amy, that your life doesn’t make any sense?”

An energy bolt was fired at them and they ran to hide behind the Pandorica.

“What was that?” Amy asked.

“Okay, I need a proper look. Got to draw its fire, give it a target,” the Doctor said.

“How?”

“You know how sometimes I have really brilliant ideas?”

“Yes.”

“Sorry.” The Doctor ran out into the open. “Look at me, I’m a target!”

Elise rolled her eyes. How the hell had he lived for this long?

He ducked behind one of the pillars.

“What is that?” Amy asked.

“Cyberarm. Arm of Cyberman,” the Doctor told her.

“And what’s a Cyberman?”

“Oh, sort of part man, part robot. The organic part must have died out years ago. Now the robot part is looking for, well, fresh meat.”

“What, us?”

“It’s just like being an organ donor, except you’re alive and sort of screaming. I need to get round behind it. Could you draw its fire?”

“What, like you did?”

“You’ll be fine if you’re quick. It’s only got one arm, literally.”

Amy reluctantly ran out into the open and the Doctor pounced on the arm. He managed to sonic it.

“Doctor?” Amy asked.

“Scrambled its circuits, but stay where you are, it could be bluffing.”

“Bluffing? It’s an arm.”

“I said stay where you are!”

Amy looked down and saw a cable winding around her ankle. “Doctor?” she asked. The cable pulled her to floor.

“Amy!” the Doctor yelled.

The Cyberman arm shocked the Doctor, effectively knocking him out.

“Doctor!” Amy yelled as Elise ran over to the Doctor.

She put her head on his chest, hearing both his hearts beating. Elise heard Amy scream.

She was being attacked by a Cyberman head.

Elise ran over to her and pulled out her sonic screwdriver. She pointed it at the Cyberman head, but it wasn’t doing anything.

Amy managed to bash it against a pillar until it let her go. She threw it to the floor and it crawled away. “Doctor?” Amy asked. A dart hit Amy in the neck.

“You will be assimilated.”

“Yeah? You and whose body?” Amy quipped.

A headless, armless Cyberman entered the chamber. It placed its head back on as Amy and Elise backed up through the big door.

The door slammed shut.

“Doctor!” Amy yelled.

A roman sword pierced the door. It swung open to reveal the Cyberman stuck to the door.

“Who, who are you?” Amy asked the Roman.

He took off his helmet. “Hello, Amy.”

It was Rory!

Amy passed out and Rory caught her, gently laying her on a stone.

Elise hugged Rory’s legs.

“Hey Elise,” he said, patting her head.

“Sir, the man’s coming round,” a soldier said.

“Amy? Where’s Amy? Elise?” the Doctor said, running towards them.

“She’s fine, Doctor. Just unconscious. Elise is fine too,” Rory told him.

The Doctor quickly soniced her. “Okay. Yes, she’s sedated, that’s all. Half an hour, she’ll be fine. Okay, Romans. Good. I was just wishing for Romans. Good old River. How many?”

“Fifty men up top, volunteers. What about that thing?” Rory pointed to the Cyberman stuck to the door.

“Fifty? You’re not exactly a legion.”

“Your friend was very persuasive, but it’s a tough sell.”

“Yes, I know that, Rory. I’m not exactly one to miss the obvious. But we need everything we can get.” The Doctor picked up two guns. “Okay, Cyberweapons. This is basically a sentry box, so headless wonder here was a sentry. Probably got himself duffed up by the locals. Never underestimate a Celt.”

“Doctor?”

“Hush, Rory. Thinking. Why leave a Cyberman on guard, unless it’s a Cyberthing in the box. But why would they lock up one of their own? Okay, no, not a Cyberthing, but what? What? No, I’m missing something obvious, Rory. Something big. Something right slap in front of me. I can feel it.”

Elise thought it was funny how the Doctor was standing right in front of Rory (and addressing him by name) and still not realizing that he was talking to Rory.

“Yeah, I think you probably are,” Rory told him.

“I’ll get it in a minute.”

The Doctor walked into the next room and dropped the guns. He re-entered the chamber and poked Rory. “Hello again,” he said.

“Hello.”

“How’ve you been?”

“Good. Yeah. Good. I mean, Roman.”

The awkwardness was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

“Rory, I’m not trying to be rude, but you died.”

“Yeah, I know. I was there.”

“You died and then you were erased from time. You didn’t just die, you were never born at all. You never existed.”

“Erased? What does that mean?”

“How can you be here?”

“I don’t know. It’s kind of fuzzy.”

“Fuzzy?”

“Well, I died and turned into a Roman. It’s very distracting.”

Rory walked over to Amy and stroked her hair. “Did she miss me?”

Before the Doctor could answer his question, the ground shook.

They ran back into the chamber to find the designs on the Pandorica were glowing green and moving.

“What is it? What’s happening?” Rory asked.

“The final phase. It’s opening.” The Doctor grabbed his communicator and called River. “Yes. Now hurry up and get the TARDIS here I need equipment!” He hung up and approached the Pandorica. “What are you? They’re all here, all of them, all for you. What could you possibly be?”

The Doctor grabbed the communicator and soniced it, effectively making it a megaphone. “Sorry, sorry, dropped it. Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica, takes the universe,” he said as they ascended the stairs, “But bad news, everyone…” The Doctor jumped up on the Altar stone. “Because guess who? Ha! Listen, you lot, you’re all whizzing about. It’s really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute because I am talking!”

The spaceships stopped moving.

“The question of the hour is, who’s got the Pandorica? Answer, I do. Next question. Who’s coming to take it from me? Come on! Look at me. No plan, no back up, no weapons worth a damn. Oh, and something else. I don’t have anything to lose! So, if you’re sitting up there in your silly little spaceship, with all your silly little guns, and you’ve got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who’s standing in your way. Remember every black day I ever stopped you, and then, and then, do the smart thing. Let somebody else try first.”

Elise clapped as the spaceships retreated. She hoped that one day she could give speeches like that. She wanted to be exactly like the Doctor when she grew up.

The Doctor jumped down from the Altar stone and high-fived Elise. “That’ll keep them squabbling for half an hour,” the Doctor told them, “Romans.” The Doctor, Elise, and Rory went back down to the Pandorica chamber.

“They’re still out there. What do we do now?” Rory asked.

“If I can stop whatever’s in this box getting out, then they’ll go home.”

“Right.”

“Rory, I’m sorry. You’re going to have to be very brave now.”

Amy walked straight past Rory to get to the Doctor. “Oh, my head.”

“Ah,” the Doctor said, opening his mouth.

Amy did the same.

“Just your basic knock-out drops. Get some fresh air, you’ll be fine,” he told her.

“Is it safe up there?”

“Not remotely, but it’s fresh.”

“Fine.” Amy turned around and bumped into Rory. “Oh, you’re the guy, yeah? The one who did the swordy thing.”

“Yeah,” he said.

“Well, thanks for the swording. Nice swording.”

Amy headed up the stairs.

“No problem. My men are up there. They’ll look after you,” Rory told her.

“Good. Love a Roman.”

Rory turned back to the Doctor. “She doesn’t remember me. How can she not remember me?”

“Because you never existed. There are cracks. Cracks in time. There’s going to be a huge explosion in the future, on one particular day. And every other moment in history is cracking around it.”

“So how does that work? What kind of explosion? What exploded?”

“Doesn’t matter. The cracks are everywhere now. Get too close to them and you can fall right out of the universe.”

“So I fell through a crack and now I was never born?”

“Basically.”

“Well, how did I end up here?”

“I don’t know, you shouldn’t have.” The Doctor stopped working on the Pandorica and approached Rory. “What happened? From your point of view, what physically happened?”

“I was in the cave, with you, Elise, and Amy. I was dying, and then I was just here, a Roman soldier. A proper Roman. Head full of Roman stuff. A whole other life, just here like I’d woken up from a dream. I started to think it was a dream, you, Amy, Elise, and Leadworth. And then today, in the camp, the men were talking about the visitors. The girl with the red hair. I thought you’d come back for me. But she can’t even remember me.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“What?”

The Doctor tossed the ring box to Rory. “Go get her.”

“But I don’t understand. Why am I here?”

“Because you are. The universe is big. It’s vast and complicated and ridiculous, and sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles, and that’s the theory. Nine hundred years, never seen one yet, but this would do me. Now get upstairs. She’s Amy and she’s surrounded by Romans. I’m not sure history can take it.” The Doctor clapped Rory on the back and he left.

Elise looked up at the Doctor with a smile.

“Oh shut up”, he told her.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I made a miscalculation and the first part of this chapter should have been added to the end of the previous one. Therefore, I added the beginning of Big Bang to the end of the this chapter.

The Doctor grabbed the communicator and called River. “The TARDIS, where is it? Hurry up. What are you even doing there?”

Elise grabbed the Doctor’s hand to offer him comfort. He squeezed her hand back.

“Something’s using her memories. Amy’s memories. You said something had been there. If they’ve been to her house, they could have used her psychic residue. Structures can hold memories, that’s why houses have ghosts. They could’ve taken a snapshot of Amy’s memories. But why?” The Doctor kept glancing back at the Romans.

“Projections, or duplicates. They might think they’re real. The perfect disguise. They actually believe their own cover story, right until they’re activated.” The Doctor started pacing. “Why? Who’d do that? What for? It doesn’t make sense. River? River? River, what’s happening?”

Elise suddenly wished she’d gone with River instead of staying with the Doctor.

“You’re flying it wrong. Where are you? What’s the date reading? You need to get out of there now. Any other time zone. Just go. Well, then shut down the TARDIS. Shut down everything! But how? Why?”

A high pitched noise filled the air.

Elise watched as the Romans in the chamber with them doubled over for a second before raising back up.

“Listen to me, just land her anywhere. Emergency landing, now. There are cracks in time. I’ve seen them everywhere, and they’re getting wider. The TARDIS exploding is what causes them, but we can stop the cracks ever happening if you just land her,” the Doctor told River.

The Pandorica started to open and a white light filled the chamber.

“Well, now. Ready to come out, are we?” the Doctor asked. He put the communicator back to his ear. “Okay, just walk out of the doors. If there’s no one inside, the TARDIS engines shut down automatically. Just get out of there. Run!” The Doctor soniced the Pandorica as the Romans came closer to them.

Their hands were now guns.

Elise tugged on the Doctor’s jacket.

“Doctor! Doctor, I can’t open the doors!” River yelled over the communicator.

The Doctor finally turned and saw the Romans. “Amy!” he yelled.

The Romans grabbed both Elise and the Doctor and walked them towards the Pandorica.

“Plastic Romans. Duplicates, driven by the Nestene Consciousness, eh? Deep cover, but what for? What are you doing? What’s in there, eh? What’s coming out?” the Doctor asked.

“The Pandorica is ready,” one of the Romans said.

“What, do you mean it’s open?”

“You have been scanned, assessed, understood, Doctor,” a Dalek voice said.

“Scanned? Scanned by what, a box?” the Doctor asked.

“Your limits and capacities have been extrapolated.”

Cybermen and a couple of other alien species that Elise didn’t recognize appeared in the chamber.

“The Pandorica is ready!” The alien that spoke was short and brown.

Elise had never seen so many different species before, but she wasn’t scared. The only real thing that scared her were Daleks.

“Ready for what?” the Doctor asked.

“Ready for you,” the white Dalek said.

Two Romans dragged the Doctor to the Pandorica as Elise screamed. The Romans locked the Doctor into the seat.

“What do we do with this one?” the brown alien asked, pointing his gun at Elise.

“Scan reveals the child is Timelord”, the white Dalek said.

Elise struggled against the Romans.

“The child will be confined with the Doctor”.

Elise was picked up and carried to the Pandorica where they shackled her wrists and ankles together at the Doctor’s feet.

“You lot, working together. An alliance. How is that possible?” the Doctor asked.

“The cracks in the skin of the universe,” the White Dalek said.

“All reality is threatened,” the brown alien added.

“All universes will be deleted.”

“What? And you’ve come to me for help?” the Doctor asked.

“No. We will save the universe from you and your offspring!” the brown alien said.

“From me?”

“All projections correlate. All evidence concurs. The Doctor will destroy the universe,” the Cyberman said.

“No, no, no. You’ve got it wrong.”

“The Pandorica was constructed to ensure the safety of the Alliance.”

“A scenario was devised from the memories of your companion,” the White Dalek told him.

“A trap the Doctor could not resist,” the brown alien said.

“The cracks in time are the work of the Doctor. It is confirmed.”

“No. no, no, not me, the TARDIS. And I’m not in the TARDIS, am I?” the Doctor asked.

“Only the Doctor can pilot the TARDIS.”

“Please, listen to me!”

“You will be prevented.”

“Total event collapse! Every sun will supernova at every moment in history. The whole universe will never have existed. Please, listen to me!”

“Seal the Pandorica,” the Cyberman said.

“No! Please, listen to me! The TARDIS is exploding right now and I’m the only one who can stop it! Listen to me!”

The Pandorica doors closed. Inside the Pandorica, it was deadly silent.

The Doctor slammed his head into the headrest behind him in frustration.

If they were going to be stuck in here till the end of time, Elise would have to do something she’d been terrified of doing. “Daddy?”

The Doctor froze, hearing Elise’s voice. He’d never heard her voice before. Well he had, but that was a long time ago. But this version of her had never spoken on purpose before. “Yes, love?” he said.

“I’m scared”.

“I don’t know how, but I will get us out of here.”

“How?”

“Do you trust me?”

Elise nodded and said, “Yes”.

But only a few minutes later, the doors to the Pandorica opened and Rory stood there holding the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver.

The Doctor was released from the chair. “How did you do that?”

“You gave me this,” Rory told him.

The Doctor pulled out his own sonic screwdriver. “No, I didn’t.”

“You did. Look at it.”

The Doctor quickly soniced Elise’s restraints before they stepped out of the Pandorica. He touched his screwdriver to Rory’s and they sparked. “Temporal energy. Same screwdriver at different points in its own time stream. Which means it was me who gave it to you. Me from the future. I’ve got a future. That’s nice.” He pointed to the fossilized Daleks. “That’s not.”

“Yeah. What are they?” Rory asked.

The Doctor looked at Elise and gestured for her to answer the question. She shook her head and he nudged her.

“They’re called Daleks,” she said.

Rory’s mouth dropped open. “Oh my god. She can talk.”

Elise rolled her eyes.

“Bigger picture here, Rory. History has collapsed. Whole races have been deleted from existence. These are just like after-images. Echoes. Fossils in time. The footprints of the never-were,” the Doctor explained.

“Er, what does that mean?”

“Total event collapse. The universe literally never happened.”

“So, how can we be here? What’s keeping us safe?”

“Nothing. Eye of the storm, that’s all. We’re just the last light to go out. Amy. Where’s Amy?”

Rory led them outside.

Amy was lying on the ground not moving.

“Auntie Amy!” Elise said, dropping to her knees next to her.

The Doctor knelt down and put his fingers on her throat.

“I killed her,” Rory said.

“Oh, Rory.”

“Doctor, what am I?”

“You’re a Nestene duplicate. A lump of plastic with delusions of humanity.”

“But I’m Rory now. Whatever was happening, it’s stopped. I’m Rory.”

“That’s software talking.”

“Can you help her? Is there anything you can do?”

“Yeah, probably, if I had the time.”

“The time?”

“All of creation has just been wiped from the sky. Do you know how many lives now never happened? All the people who never lived? Your girlfriend isn’t more important than the whole universe.”

Rory punched the Doctor, sending him to the ground. “She is to me!” Rory yelled.

“Dad!” Elise gasped, “Rory!”

The Doctor jumped to his feet. “Welcome back, Rory Williams! Sorry. Had to be sure. Hell of a gun-arm you’re packing there. Right, we need to get her downstairs. And take that look off your plastic face. You’re getting married in the morning.”

Rory carried Amy down into the Pandorica chamber and the Doctor placed her in the chair.

“So you’ve got a plan, then?” Rory asked.

“Bit of a plan, yeah. Memories are more powerful than you think, and Amy Pond is not an ordinary girl. Grew up with a time crack in her wall. The universe pouring through her dreams every night. The Nestenes took a memory print of her and got a bit more than they bargained for, like you. Not just your face, but your heart and your soul.” The Doctor placed his hands on Amy’s face and closed his eyes. “I’m leaving her a message for when she wakes up, so she knows what’s happening.” The Doctor soniced the Pandorica, sealing Amy inside.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?” Rory asked.

“I’m saving her. This box is the ultimate prison. You can’t even escape by dying. It forces you to stay alive.”

“But she’s already dead.”

“Well, she’s mostly dead. The Pandorica can stasis-lock her that way. Now, all it needs is a scan of her living DNA and it’ll restore her.”

“Where’s it going to get that?”

The Doctor checked his watch. “In about two thousand years.” The Doctor pulled out a Vortex Manipulator from his pocket and strapped it to his wrist.

“She’s going to be in that box for two thousand years?” Rory asked.

“Yeah, but we’re taking a shortcut. River’s vortex manipulator. Rubbish way to time travel, but the universe is tiny now. We’ll be fine,” the Doctor told him.

“So hang on. The future’s still there, then. Our world.”

“A version of it. Not quite the one you know. Earth alone in the sky. Let’s go and have a look.”

The Doctor raised his wrist. “You put your hand there. Don’t worry. Should be safe.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.”

“She’ll be fine. Nothing can get into this box.”

“Well, you and Elise got in there.”

“Well, there’s only two of us. I counted.”

“This box needs a guard. I killed the last one.”

“No. Rory, no. Don’t even think about it.”

“She’ll be all alone.”

“She won’t feel it.”

“You bet she won’t.”

“Two thousand years, Rory. You won’t even sleep. You’d be conscious every second. It would drive you mad.”

“Will she be safer if I stay? Look me in the eye and tell me she wouldn’t be safer.”

“Rory, you…”

“Answer me!”

“Yes. Obviously.”

“Then how could I leave her?”

The Doctor sighed. “Why do you have to be so human?”

“Because right now, I’m not.”

The Doctor typed in the date he wanted and the Vortex Manipulator started beeping. He grabbed Elise’s hand. “Listen to me. This is the last bit of advice you’re going to get in a very long time. You’re living plastic, but you’re not immortal. I have no idea how long you’ll last. And you’re not indestructible. Stay away from heat and radio signals when they come along. You can’t heal, or repair yourself. Any damage is permanent. So, for God’s sake, however bored you get, stay out of…”

The Doctor and Elise vanished and Rory took his place guarding the Pandorica.


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the last chapter! Title announcement and summary for the next book to come.

The Doctor and Elise appeared in front of two Amy’s.

The older one and the one they had met as a little girl.

“Trouble. Oh,” he said, seeing the Dalek coming toward them. He spun around and saw the two Amy’s. “Ah, two of you. Complicated.”

“Exterminate! Weapons systems restoring.”

The Doctor grabbed the older Amy’s hand, while Elise grabbed the hand of the younger Amy.

“Come along, Ponds!” the Doctor said as they ran.

“Exterminate!”

They ran towards a display, where the Doctor grabbed a fez of one of the dummys.

“What are we doing?” older Amy asked.

“Well, we are running into a dead end, where I’ll have a brilliant plan, that basically involves not being in one,” the Doctor told her.

“What’s going on?” a man’s voice asked.

“Get out of here. Go! Just run!” the Doctor yelled.

“Drop the device!” the Dalek said.

The man held a flashlight in his hand.

“It’s not a weapon. Scan it. It’s not a weapon, and you don’t have the power to waste,” the Doctor told it.

“Scans indicate intruder unarmed.”

“Do you think?” the man asked. The man dropped the flashlight and energy beams came out of his hand.

It was Rory!

“Vision impaired! Vision…” The Dalek powered down and they came out from their hiding place.

“Amy!” Rory exclaimed.

“Rory!” Amy ran towards him and they hugged.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it. It just happened,” Rory told her.

“Oh, Shut up.” Amy kissed Rory.

“Yeah, shut up, because we’ve got to go. Come on,” the Doctor told them.

“I waited. Two thousand years I waited for you,” Rory said.

“No, still shut up,” Amy said kissing him again.

Younger Amy and Elise looked on in disgust.

“And break. And breathe. Well, somebody didn’t get out much for two thousand years.”

Younger Amy tugged on the Doctor’s sleeve. “I’m thirsty. Can I get a drink?”

“Oh, it’s all mouths today, isn’t it?” the Doctor said shoving the fez onto her head.

Younger Amy took it off and shoved it back into the Doctor’s arms.

“The light. The light from the Pandorica, it must have hit the Dalek,” the Doctor said.

The Dalek started to power up again.

“Out! Out! Out!” the Doctor yelled.

They started running and eventually came to the reception area.

Rory closed the door to the exhibit while the Doctor soniced them.

“So, two thousand years. How did you do?” he asked.

“Kept out of trouble,” Rory told him.

The Doctor still had the fez in his hands, so he put on his hand as he ran over to a janitor’s closet. “Oh. How?”

“Unsuccessfully. The mop! That’s how you looked all those years ago when you gave me the sonic.”

The Doctor tucked it under his arm. “Ah. Well, no time to lose, then.” He pressed the button on the Vortex Manipulator and disappeared. He returned and put the mop through the door handles to hopefully keep it shut. “Oops, sorry,” he said.

“How can he do that? Is he magic?” Younger Amy asked the older one.

He disappeared again and then reappeared a second later. “Right, let’s go then,” he said, about to start running up the stairs, “Wait! Now I don’t have the sonic. I just gave it Rory two thousand years ago.”

Elise pulled hers out. “What about mine?” she asked.

“Gotta keep the timeline. Sorry, love.” He disappeared again.

“She talked!” Amy squeaked out.

“Yeah, she does that now”, Rory told her.

The Doctor reappeared. “Right then.” He reached inside Amy’s jacket and pulled out his screwdriver. “Off we go! No, hang on. How did you know to come here?” he asked the younger Amy.

She pulled out a pamphlet and a post-it note.

“Ah, my handwriting. Okay.” He grabbed a pamphlet and a post-it note from the desk and disappeared. He returned with a drink and handed it to the younger Amy. “There you go. Drink up.” He started to run up the stairs again.

“What is that? How are you doing that?” older Amy asked.

“Vortex manipulator. Cheap and nasty time travel. Very bad for you. I’m trying to give it up.”

Elise rolled her eyes at the bad joke.

“Where are we going?”

“The roof.”

A second Doctor appeared at the top of the stairs and tumbled down them. His clothes were singed.

“Doctor, it’s you. How can it be you?” Rory asked as the current Doctor soniced the dead one.

“Doctor, is that you?” Amy asked.

“Yeah, it’s me. Me from the future.”

The future Doctor woke up and whispered something into the current Doctor’s ear, before falling back to the floor again.

“Are you? I mean, is he, is he dead?” Amy asked.

“What? Dead? Yes, yes. Of course he’s dead. Right, I’ve got twelve minutes. That’s good,” the Doctor said.

“Twelve minutes to live? How is that good?”

“Oh, you can do loads in twelve minutes. Suck a mint, buy a sledge, have a fast bath. Come on, the roof.”

“We can’t leave you here dead,” Rory told him.

“Oh, good. Are you in charge now? So tell me, what are we going to do about Amelia?”

Amy and Rory turned around to find her gone.

“Where did she go?” Amy asked.

“Amelia?” Rory called.

“There is no Amelia. From now on, there never was. History is still collapsing,” the Doctor told them.

“But how can I still be here if she’s not?” Amy asked.

“You’re an anomaly. We all are. We’re all just hanging on at the eye of the storm. But the eye is closing, and if we don’t do something fast, reality will never have happened. Today, just dying is a result. Now, come on!” The Doctor ran off, leaving them there with the dead Doctor.

Elise knelt down and ran her hand over his hair before leaning down and kissing his forehead.

“He won’t die. Time can be rewritten. He’ll find a way. I know he will,” Amy told them.

Rory covered the dead Doctor with his jacket.

“Move it! Come on!” the Doctor yelled.

They finally made it to the roof.

“What, it’s morning already? How did that happen?” Amy asked.

“History is shrinking. Is anybody listening to me? The universe is collapsing. We don’t have much time left,” the Doctor said. He started sonicing a satellite dish off its pole.

“What are you doing?” Rory asked.

“Looking for the TARDIS.”

“But the TARDIS exploded.”

The Doctor pulled the dish off its pole. “Okay then, I’m looking for an exploding TARDIS.”

“I don’t understand. So, the TARDIS blew up and took the universe with it. But why would it do that? How?”

“Good question for another day. The question for now is, total event collapse means that every star in the universe never happened. Not one single one of them ever shone. So, if all the stars that ever were are gone, then what is that?” The Doctor pointing to a giant burning ball in the sky. “Like I said, I’m looking for an exploding TARDIS.”

“But that’s the sun.”

“Is it? Well, here’s the noise that sun is making right now.” The Doctor soniced the dish and they heard the TARDIS’ wheezing noise. “That’s my TARDIS burning up. That’s what’s been keeping the Earth warm.”

“Doctor, there’s something else. There’s a voice,” Rory said.

“I can’t hear anything,” Amy told him.

“Trust the plastic.”

“I’m sorry, my love. I’m sorry, my love. I’m sorry, my love,” the voice repeated.

“River!” Elise yelled.

“Doctor, that’s River. How can she be up there?” Amy asked.

“It must be like a recording or something,” Rory said.

“No, it’s not. Of course, the emergency protocols. The TARDIS has sealed off the control room and put her into a time loop to save her. She is right at the heart of the explosion,” the Doctor told them. The Doctor disappeared and reappeared with River.

Elise ran towards her.

“Little star! Amy! And the plastic Centurion?” River asked.

“It’s okay, he’s on our side,” the Doctor told her.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“I dated a Nestene duplicate once. Swappable head. It did keep things fresh. Right then, I have questions, but number one is this. What in the name of sanity have you got on your head?”

Elise laughed. She loved it when River and her father got into it.

“It’s a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezes are cool,” the Doctor said.

Amy grabbed the fez off his head and threw it in the air, so River could blast it with her gun.

The Dalek from earlier appeared, rising to meet them on the roof. “Exterminate!”

“Run, run! Move, move. Go!” the Doctor yelled. He grabbed the satellite dish and used it as a makeshift shield so they could make it back into the museum. He soniced the door to the roof when they got inside while River covered him with her blaster.

“Doctor, come on,” she told him.

“Shush. It’s moving away, finding another way in. It needs to restore its power before it can attack again. Now, that means we’ve got exactly four and a half minutes before it’s at lethal capacity.”

“How do you know?” Rory asked.

“Because that’s when it’s due to kill me.”

“Kill you? What do you mean, kill you?” River asked him.

“Oh, shut up. Never mind. How can that Dalek even exist? It was erased from time and then it came back. How?”

They ran down the stairs, into a corridor, and made their back into the museum.

“You said the light from the Pandorica,” Rory said.

“It’s not a light, it’s a restoration field. But never mind, call it a light. That light brought Amy back, restored her, but how could it bring back a Dalek when the Daleks have never existed?”

“Okay, tell us,” Amy told him.

“When the TARDIS blew up, it caused a total event collapse. A time explosion. And that explosion blasted every atom in every moment of the universe. Except…”

“Except inside the Pandorica.”

“The perfect prison. And inside it, perfectly preserved, a few billion atoms of the universe as it was. In theory, you could extrapolate the whole universe from a single one of them, like, like cloning a body from a single cell. And we’ve got the bumper family pack.”

“No, no. Too fast. I’m not getting it,” Rory said.

“The box contains a memory of the universe, and the light transmits the memory, and that’s how we’re going to do it.”

“Do what?” Amy asked.

“Relight the fire. Reboot the universe. Come on!” He ran off and both River and Elise ran after them.

“Doctor, you’re being completely ridiculous. The Pandorica partially restored one Dalek. If it can’t even reboot a single life form properly, how’s it reboot the whole of reality?” River asked him.

“What if we give it a moment of infinite power? What if we can transmit the light from the Pandorica to every particle of space and time simultaneously?”

“Well, that would be lovely, dear, but we can’t, because it’s completely impossible.”

“Ah no, you see, it’s not.” The Doctor tapped River’s nose. “It’s almost completely impossible. One spark is all we need.”

“For what?”

“Big Bang Two! Now listen…” A beam hit the Doctor and he dropped to the floor.

“Exterminate! Exterminate!”

“Get back. River, Elise, get back now!” Rory yelled.

“Exterminate!”

Rory shot the Dalek a couple of times and it powered down.

“Doctor? Doctor, it’s me, River. Can you hear me? What is it? What do you need?”

He disappeared, having used the vortex manipulator.

“Where did he go?” River asked, “Damn it, he could be anywhere.”

“He went downstairs, twelve minutes ago,” Amy told her.

“Show me!”

“River, he died.”

“Systems restoring. You will be exterminated.”

“We’ve got to move. That thing’s coming back to life,” Rory said.

“You go to the Doctor. I’ll be right with you,” River told them.

Amy and Rory left.

“Go,” River told Elise.

“No,” she said.

River was the only to not be shocked by her speaking. “I’ll be fine, darling. Go find Auntie Amy and Uncle Rory”.

Elise finally left and ran back towards reception.

“How could he have moved? He was dead. Doctor? Doctor!” Rory yelled.

“But he was dead,” Amy said.

River appeared at the top of the stairs. “Who told you that?” she asked.

“He did.”

“Rule one. The Doctor lies.”

“Where’s the Dalek?”

“It died.”

“The doors…” Elise said.

“What? What is it Elise?” River asked her.

“The doors are open”, she said pointing to the doors to the exhibit.

They ran in and found the Doctor in the Pandorica.

“Daddy!” Elise yelled, running towards him.

River stepped into the Pandorica.

“Doctor!” Amy yelled.

“Why did he tell us he was dead?” Rory asked.

“We were a diversion. As long as the Dalek was chasing us, he could work down here.”

“Doctor, can you hear me? What were you doing?” River asked him.

The light from outside was getting brighter.

“What’s happening?” Rory asked.

“Reality’s collapsing. It’s speeding up. Look at this room,” River told him.

Everything in the room was disappearing.

“Where’d everything go?” Amy asked.

“History’s being erased. Time’s running out. Doctor, what were you doing? Tell us. Doctor!”

The Doctor finally came to. “Big Bang Two,” he mumbled.

“The Big Bang. That’s the beginning of the universe, right?” Rory asked.

“What, and Big Bang Two is the bang that brings us back? Is that what you mean?” Amy added.

The Doctor nodded.

“Oh,” River said, realizing what he had done.

“What?” Amy asked.

“The TARDIS is still burning. It’s exploding at every point in history. If you threw the Pandorica into the explosion, right into the heart of the fire.”

“Then what?”

“Then let there be light. The light from the Pandorica would explode everywhere at once, just like he said.”

“That would work? That would bring everything back?”

“A restoration field powered by an exploding TARDIS, happening at every moment in history. Oh, that’s brilliant. It might even work.”

River pulled out the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver and soniced the vortex manipulator strapped to his wrist. “He’s wired the vortex manipulator to the rest of the box.”

“Why?” Amy asked.

“So he can take it with him. He’s going to fly the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion.”

Elise sat at her father’s feet as River worked.

“Amy,” he whispered.

River stepped out of the Pandorica.

“Please don’t”, Elise begged the Doctor.

He smiled softly and ran a hand over her hair.

“Please”.

“River will take you.”

“What? No. I wanna stay with you.” Elise wrapped her small hand around his larger one. “But…but it’s you and me. No matter what. You promised.” But then Elise remembered what River had said.

Rule #1: The Doctor lies.

“Be a good girl, okay?”

Tears filled Elise’s eyes as Amy entered the Pandorica. Elise nodded and walked away from the man who had quickly become her father. She approached River and Rory.

River stroked her hair. Whatever happened, she would find Elise and raise her as her own.

The room started to shake.

“Doctor! It’s speeding up!” River yelled.

The Pandorica closed as the room shook even more.

“Back! Get back!” River yelled, shoving Amy to the floor.

Elise buried herself into River’s side as the Pandorica took off.

River’s communicator beeped. “It’s from the Doctor,” she said.

“What does it say?” Amy asked.

“Geronimo.”

River and Elise appeared in the churchyard.

“Wait here”, River told her.

Elise nodded as River went inside the reception hall.

She came back out and said, “Now we wait”.

Soon, Elise heard the wheezing of the TARDIS engines and River nodded at her. Elise picked up her blue dress and ran inside the reception hall to see the TARDIS materialize.

“Okay, Doctor. Did I surprise you this time?” Amy asked.

The Doctor opened the door in a tux. “Er, yeah. Completely astonished. Never expected that. How lucky I happened to be wearing this old thing. Hello, everyone. I’m Amy’s imaginary friend. But I came anyway.”

Elise ran forward and threw her arms around the Doctor’s waist.

He laughed and patted her head. “Did you ever doubt me?” he asked her.

“Never”, she told him.

“You absolutely, definitely may kiss the bride,” Amy said, striding towards him.

The Doctor stopped her. “Amelia, from now on I shall be leaving the kissing duties to the brand new Mister Pond.” He approached Rory and shook his hand.

“No, I’m not Mister Pond. That’s not how it works,” Rory said.

“Yeah, it is.”

Rory hesitated before saying, “Yeah, it is.”

“Right then, everyone. I’ll move my box. You’re going to need the space. I only came for the dancing.” He entered the TARDIS and it disappeared.

Elise ran a hand over Amy’s wedding dress. “I want to look like you when I get married”, Elise told her.

Amy blushed. “You look pretty too.”

“River bought it”.

“Let’s get you some cake, eh?”

Soon the party was in full swing and the Doctor was dancing like an idiot.

Sometimes she didn’t understand what Amy and River saw in him. Elise enjoyed playing around with the other children, feeling almost normal for once.

Eventually the party wound down and people started to leave.

The Doctor was leaning up against a doorframe watching Amy and Rory slow dance. “Two thousand years. The boy who waited. Good on you, mate,” the Doctor commented.

Elise wanted a love like theirs one day. She wanted someone who would wait forever for her.

“Come on you”, the Doctor said, ruffling her hair.

They made their way to Amy’s house where the Doctor had parked the TARDIS.

“Did you dance? Well, you always dance at weddings, don’t you?” River asked from behind them.

The Doctor and Elise turned.

“You tell me,” the Doctor said.

“Spoilers.”

The Doctor handed River her diary and vortex manipulator back. “The writing’s all back, but I didn’t peek.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you married, River?”

River strapped the vortex manipulator to her wrist. “Are you asking?”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“No, hang on. Did you think I was asking you to marry me, or-or-or asking if you were married?”

“Yes.”

“No, but was that yes, or yes?”

“Yes.”

“River, who are you?”

“You’re going to find out very soon now. And I’m sorry, but that’s when everything changes.” River pressed the button on the manipulator and disappeared.

The Doctor and Elise entered the TARDIS.

“Does this River is my mum now?” Elise asked, “I mean you’re practically my dad now, so…”

“Do you want her to be your mum?” the Doctor countered.

Elise thought about it and then nodded.

“Oi! Where are you off to?” Amy asked, popping in, “We haven’t even had a snog in the shrubbery yet.” She joined them on the platform.

“Amy!” Rory said.

“Shut up. It’s my wedding.”

“Our wedding.”

“Sorry, you two. Shouldn’t have slipped away. Bit busy, you know?”

Rory joined them on the platform. “You just saved the whole of space and time? Take the evening off. Maybe a bit of tomorrow.”

“Space and time isn’t safe yet. The TARDIS exploded for a reason. Something drew the TARDIS to this particular date, and blew it up. Why? And why now?”

The phone on the console started ringing.

“The Silence, whatever it is, is still out there, and I have to…” the Doctor told him, “Excuse me a moment.” He picked up the phone. “Hello? Oh, hello. I’m sorry, this is a very bad line. No, no, no, but that’s not possible. She was sealed into the seventh Obelisk. I was at the prayer meeting. Well, no, I get that it’s important. An Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express, in space. Give us a mo.” The Doctor turned to Amy and Rory. “Sorry, something’s come up. This will have to be goodbye.”

“Yeah, I think it’s goodbye. Do you think it’s goodbye?” Amy asked Rory.

“Definitely goodbye.”

Amy ran to the door of the TARDIS and opened it, shouting, “Goodbye!” She shut the door and ran up to the platform again.

“Don’t worry about a thing, your Majesty. We’re on our way,” the Doctor said and hung up the phone. He danced around the console hitting buttons. “Elise, darling, amazing, precious daughter of mine, care to do the honors?”

Elise grabbed the lever and pulled, yelling, “Geronimo!”

And they were off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The new book should be up sometime next week. I'm going to Georgia and South Carolina for the holiday weekend, so I may not have the opportunity to post it.


	36. TITLE ANNOUNCEMENT AND SNEAK PEEK

The title of the new book will be...

The Littlest Timelord: The Death of the Doctor

Summary: The Doctor’s death is looming on the horizon and Elise is growing every day. What the Doctor doesn’t know is that he has 200 years to teach Elise all he knows. Amy, Rory, and River let Elise in on their secret, because River knows she will keep it. What will Elise do when he’s gone? 

And here's the sneak peek as promised!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Elise walked past a door with a number 10 on it. It was calling to her to open it.

“Elise, wait…!” her father said.

She opened the door and saw herself standing there. Over the bodies of everyone she cared about. Her father. Both incarnations of him. Amy. Rory. River.

Outside the window, Gallifrey was burning.

Elise stumbled back into her father’s arms as she let out a shuddering breath. She turned and buried her face in his neck.

“Shhh”, he cooed, as he stroked her hair. He understood her greatest fear now. Being completely alone. Just like she had been in the last days of the Time War. Before he killed them all.

“Hey”, he said, pulling her away from him. He cupped her face in his hands as tears streamed down from her blue eyes. “I’m not gonna let that happen. Do you hear me?” he told her.

Elise nodded and he placed a kiss on her forehead.


	37. NEW STORY UP!

The next story is now up! In a few days, I will be starting a Deleted Scenes/Outtakes book. This book will feature requested one-shots and scenes that I could not fit into the story.


End file.
